JP2005310792A - Plasma display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve a luminous efficiency of a PDP composed of an AC-type discharge cell. <P>SOLUTION: A front substrate of the PDP comprises a scanning electrode 5 and sustaining electrode 6, as a pair of gas discharge electrodes formed so as to face with each other through plane discharge gaps 7, composed of floating transparent electrode pieces 5A, 6A made of transparent conductor material to be divided into several pieces, branch electrodes 5B, 6B capacity-coupled with the electrode pieces 5A, 6A, and bus electrodes 5c, 6c directly connected to the branch electrodes 5B, 6B; a dielectric layer (not shown) covering the scanning electrode 5 and sustaining electrode 6; and a protective layer (not shown) protecting the dielectric layer from discharge. Here, the electrode pieces 5A, 6A are composed of four pieces of electrode pieces with the same dimensions, respectively, and the branch electrodes 5B, 6B are insulated from discharge gas spaces by partition walls 15 of a rear substrate. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a plasma display panel (hereinafter referred to as “PDP”), and more particularly, to a plasma display panel configured to achieve improved light emission characteristics and reduced power consumption.

  There are two types of PDP, AC type and DC type, depending on the operation method. The AC type is widely used because it has a relatively simple structure and can easily realize a large screen, and each PDP is made of glass. Basically, a front substrate (first substrate) and a rear substrate (second substrate) made of a transparent material such as are disposed so as to face each other, and a discharge gas space for generating plasma is formed between both substrates. It has a configuration. Among them, the scan electrode and the sustain electrode (sustain electrode or common electrode) are parallel to each other along the horizontal direction (row direction) on the inner surface of the front substrate which is one of the pair of substrates forming the discharge cell. ) Are arranged on the inner surface of the back substrate, which is the other substrate, along the vertical direction (column direction) so as to be orthogonal to the row electrodes. A so-called three-electrode AC surface discharge type PDP in which column electrodes composed of address electrodes) are arranged has a phosphor layer in which high-energy ions generated during surface discharge performed on the front substrate are formed on the inner surface of the rear substrate. Since there is no impact, it is most widely adopted because it can extend its life. In such a three-electrode AC surface discharge type PDP, the phosphor layers of red, green and blue are arranged on the inner surface of the rear substrate of the PDP to enable multicolor emission.

25 is an exploded perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the above-described conventional three-electrode AC surface discharge type PDP, FIG. 26 is a cross-sectional view taken along line V ₁ -V ₁ in FIG. 25, and FIG. 27 is W _1-in FIG. W ₁ is a sectional view taken along the line. As shown in FIGS. 25 to 27, the PDP 100 is arranged such that a front substrate 101 and a rear substrate 102 face each other, and a discharge gas space 103 is formed between the substrates 101 and 102. It has a configuration.

  Here, the front substrate 101 is opposed to the first insulating substrate 104 made of a transparent material such as glass and the inner surface of the first insulating substrate 104 in parallel along the row direction H with the surface discharge gap 107 interposed therebetween. The scan electrode 105 and the sustain electrode 106, which are formed of the transparent electrodes 105A and 106A (gas discharge electrode) and the bus electrodes 105B and 106B, respectively, and the scan electrode 105 and the sustain electrode are formed to form a pair of row electrodes. A dielectric layer 108 covering the layer 106 and a protective layer 109 protecting the dielectric layer 108 from discharge are provided.

  On the other hand, the back substrate 102 is formed of a second insulating substrate 111 made of a transparent material such as glass and the inner surface of the second insulating substrate 111 along a column direction V orthogonal to the row direction H to form a column electrode. Data electrode 112, a dielectric layer 113 covering the data electrode 112, a partition 114 formed along the column direction V to secure the discharge gas space 103 and partition individual discharge cells, and a partition A phosphor layer 115 comprising a red phosphor layer 115R, a green phosphor layer 115G, and a blue phosphor layer 115B covering the bottom surface and the inner wall surface of 114; Here, reference numeral 110 denotes a unit discharge cell (hereinafter also simply referred to as a cell), and a non-discharge gap 116 for preventing discharge interference between the unit discharge cells 110 between the unit discharge cells 110 in the column direction V. Is formed. The scan electrode 105, the sustain electrode 106, and the data electrode 112 constitute the above three electrodes, and the three unit discharge cells 110 including the phosphor layers 115R, 115G, and 115B constitute one pixel of the screen. A plurality of pixels are arranged in a matrix along the row direction H and the column direction V, whereby the PDP 100 is configured (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

In the basic operation of the PDP driving described above, the unit discharge cells 110 to be displayed (light emission) are applied by applying a data pulse to the data electrode 112 of the back substrate 102 and applying a scan pulse to the scan electrode 105 of the front substrate 101. A write discharge to be selected is performed, and then a bipolar voltage is applied between the scan electrode 105 and the sustain electrode 106, and a sustain discharge (sustain discharge or display discharge) is performed by the surface discharge of the selected cell. And the vacuum ultraviolet light (VUV light) produced | generated by this discharge irradiates the said fluorescent substance layer, The said red, green, and blue visible light is light-emitted.
JP 2003-068212 A (paragraphs “0010” to “0011”, FIG. 1)

  In the above-described three-electrode AC surface discharge type PDP, the most important thing in improving the light emission efficiency of the cell is the neon (Ne) in the cell with respect to the power applied between the bus electrode 105B and the bus electrode 106B. VUV light is efficiently generated from a discharge gas composed of an inert gas such as xenon (Xe). Therefore, it is preferable that the kinetic energy of electrons generated in the discharge is reduced as much as possible (the ionization of the discharge gas is reduced), and the excitation efficiency (also referred to as the excitation cross section) of the discharge gas for generating the VUV light is increased. .

  For this purpose, the dielectric layer covering the gas discharge electrodes (transparent electrodes 105A and 106A) is made thick, or the dielectric layer is formed of a material having a low relative dielectric constant, and the gas discharge electrode and the discharge gas space are separated from each other. It is effective to reduce the capacitance generated by the dielectric layer between them. However, if the capacitance generated by the dielectric layer is reduced, the voltage required to start the discharge increases, so the operating voltage between the discharge electrodes increases and the power consumption of the PDP drive circuit increases. There was a problem. The discharge voltage required for starting the discharge becomes more prominent when the gas pressure of the discharge gas is increased.

  Here, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the voltage applied between the bus electrodes 105B and 106B is a bipolar voltage in which the applied voltage value is increased at the start of discharge and the applied voltage value is decreased when maintaining the discharge. Is effective. However, in this case, since the voltage waveform is generated, the circuit configuration of the PDP drive becomes complicated, resulting in a problem that the cost of the PDP is increased.

  It is also conceivable to apply a discharge method in which at least one of the AC type surface discharge electrodes is a floating electrode (floating electrode). However, in this case, a discharge may occur through a part of the floating electrode. The discharge does not spread sufficiently in the cell and the discharge is localized. Eventually, the light emission efficiency of the cell is lowered. This localization of discharge becomes more prominent when the pressure of the discharge gas is increased.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and solves the above-described problems of the prior art. In a PDP composed of an AC discharge cell, improvement in cell luminous efficiency and power consumption of PDP driving are achieved. An object of the present invention is to provide a plasma display panel that can easily achieve the reduction of the above.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a plasma display panel capable of suppressing the localization of discharge and stably expanding the discharge range even at a high discharge gas pressure.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention described in claim 1 is characterized in that a gas discharge electrode for display of a dielectric layer coating constituting a display cell arranged in a matrix in a display region and the gas discharge are arranged in a row direction. A first substrate having a bus electrode for supplying power to the electrodes; and a partition wall and a partition wall which are arranged to face the first substrate across a discharge gas space and partition the display cells in the display region. In the plasma display panel comprising a second substrate having an address electrode disposed thereon, the gas discharge electrode is divided into a plurality of electrode pieces on the same surface, and at least some of the electrode pieces are: It is characterized by being individually electrically coupled to the bus electrode through a capacitive insulator or resistor.

  A second aspect of the present invention relates to the plasma display panel according to the first aspect, wherein the gas discharge electrodes are separated in a column direction to form the electrode pieces.

  A third aspect of the present invention relates to the plasma display panel according to the first or second aspect, wherein two or more of the electrode pieces are electrically coupled to the bus electrode through the capacitive insulator or resistor. It is characterized by being.

  A fourth aspect of the present invention relates to the plasma display panel according to the first, second, or third aspect, wherein the display gas discharge electrode is a pair of surface discharge electrodes that perform gas discharge in a discharge gas space of the display cell. It is characterized by that.

  According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided the plasma display panel according to the fourth aspect, wherein one or both of the pair of surface discharge electrodes are divided into the electrode pieces.

  According to a sixth aspect of the invention, there is provided the plasma display panel according to the fourth or fifth aspect, wherein at least a pair of electrode pieces sandwiching a surface discharge gap portion among a plurality of pairs of electrode pieces constituting the pair of surface discharge electrodes. The electrode piece is electrically connected to the bus electrode directly.

  A seventh aspect of the present invention relates to the plasma display panel according to the sixth aspect, wherein each of the electrode pieces constituting the pair of surface discharge electrodes is formed of a transparent conductive material and is arranged in a row direction within the display region. It is characterized by being extended.

  An eighth aspect of the present invention relates to the plasma display panel according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, wherein some of the electrode pieces are made of a transparent conductive material.

  A ninth aspect of the present invention relates to the plasma display panel according to any one of the first to eighth aspects, wherein an electrical coupling between the electrode piece and the bus electrode is a region where no gas discharge occurs in the display cell. It is characterized by the structure made in

  A tenth aspect of the present invention relates to the plasma display panel according to the ninth aspect, wherein the electrical connection between the electrode piece and the bus electrode is connected to the bus electrode and disposed at a position overlapping the pattern of the partition wall. It is characterized by being made through a branch electrode.

  An eleventh aspect of the present invention relates to the plasma display panel according to any one of the first to eighth aspects, wherein the electrical connection between the electrode piece and the bus electrode is a transparent conductive material connected to the bus electrode. It is made through the branch electrode which consists of these.

  A twelfth aspect of the present invention relates to the plasma display panel according to the tenth or eleventh aspect of the present invention, wherein the capacitor insulator is formed on a surface of the electrode piece, and overlies a partial region of the electrode piece via the capacitor insulator. The branching electrode is disposed so as to wrap, and the first substrate surface faces the second substrate.

  A thirteenth aspect of the present invention relates to the plasma display panel according to the tenth or eleventh aspect, wherein the capacitive insulator is formed on a surface of the branch electrode and overlaps the branch electrode via the capacitive insulator. The electrode piece is disposed on the first substrate surface, and the first substrate surface faces the second substrate.

  A fourteenth aspect of the invention relates to the plasma display panel according to any one of the first to thirteenth aspects, wherein the capacitive insulator is made of an oxide or a nitride.

  A fifteenth aspect of the present invention relates to the plasma display panel according to any one of the first to fourteenth aspects, wherein the resistor is made of a transparent oxide resistor material.

A sixteenth aspect of the present invention relates to the plasma display panel according to any one of the first to fifteenth aspects, wherein the discharge gas sealed in the discharge gas space is at least one of Xe, Kr, Ar, and N _2. And the partial pressure is 100 hPa or more.
The invention according to claim 17 relates to the plasma display panel according to any one of claims 1 to 16, and is close to the bus electrode among the plurality of electrode pieces electrode-coupled to the bus electrode. A width in the column direction of the electrode pieces at a position is larger than other electrode pieces.
The invention according to claim 18 relates to the plasma display panel according to any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein the plurality of electrode pieces electrically coupled to the bus electrode have the same size. It is characterized by.
Furthermore, the invention according to claim 19 relates to the plasma display panel according to any one of claims 1 to 18, wherein the film thickness of the capacitive insulator is smaller than the film thickness of the dielectric layer. It is characterized by.

  According to the configuration of the present invention, in a PDP configured with an AC discharge cell, the light emission efficiency in the discharge cell is improved, and the drive voltage and power consumption can be easily reduced. Furthermore, it becomes possible to suppress the localization of the discharge in the discharge cell and to stably expand the discharge range. Accordingly, the luminous efficiency can be significantly improved by increasing the pressure of the discharge gas.

  A first substrate comprising a gas discharge electrode for display of a dielectric layer coating that constitutes display cells arranged in a matrix in a display region, and a bus electrode that is arranged in a row direction and supplies power to the gas discharge electrode And a second substrate that is disposed to face the first substrate across a discharge gas space and includes partition walls that partition the display cells in the display region and address electrodes that are arranged in a column direction. In the plasma display panel, the gas discharge electrode is divided into a plurality of electrode pieces on the same surface, and at least some of the electrode pieces are individually electrically coupled to the bus electrode through a capacitive insulator or a resistor. By using the plasma display panel having the above structure, the driving voltage and power consumption of the plasma display panel are suppressed, and the light emission efficiency in the discharge cell is easily increased. Furthermore, the localization of the discharge in the discharge cell is suppressed, and the discharge range is stably expanded. This latter effect becomes more prominent as the discharge gas becomes higher in pressure, so that the luminous efficiency can be further improved by increasing the pressure of the discharge gas.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The description will be made specifically with reference to examples.

1 is an exploded perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a PDP according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the schematic configuration of the PDP, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along arrow X ₁ -X _{1 in} FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line X ₂ -X ₂ in FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line Y ₁ -Y ₁ in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the PDP 10 of this example is arranged so that a front substrate (first substrate) 1 and a back substrate (second substrate) 2 face each other, 2 has a basic structure in which a discharge gas space 3 is formed between the two.

Here, the front substrate 1 has a first insulating substrate 4 made of a transparent material such as soda lime glass, and a surface arranged parallel to each other along the row direction (horizontal direction) H on the inner surface of the first insulating substrate 4. A pair of row electrodes that are formed so as to face each other via the discharge gap 7 are each formed of a transparent conductive material such as ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) and tin oxide (SnO ₂ ) and divided into several pieces. Floating transparent electrode pieces (hereinafter simply referred to as transparent electrode pieces) 5A, 6A, branch electrodes 5B, 6B capacitively coupled to these transparent electrode pieces 5A, 6A, and branch electrodes 5B, 6B connected to Al ( Scan electrode 5 and sustain electrode (sustain electrode or common electrode) 6 composed of bus electrodes 5C, 6C made of a low-resistance metal material such as aluminum), Cu (copper), Ag (silver), and scan A dielectric layer 8 having a thickness of 10 μm to 50 μm made of zinc-containing frit glass, lead-containing frit glass, or the like that covers the electrode 5 and the sustain electrode 6, and MgO (magnesium oxide) that protects the dielectric layer 8 from discharge. And a protective layer 9. Here, the transparent electrode piece 5A is composed of four transparent electrode pieces 5A1, 5A2, 5A3, and 5A4 that have the same shape and the same shape, are divided in the row direction, and extend in the row direction. Similarly, the transparent electrode piece 6A is also composed of four transparent electrode pieces 6A1, 6A2, 6A3, and 6A4 that have the same shape and shape, are divided in the row direction, and extend in the row direction. These transparent electrode pieces 5A and 6A become gas discharge electrodes.

On the other hand, the back substrate 2 is formed along the column direction (vertical direction) V perpendicular to the row direction H on the second insulating substrate 12 made of a transparent material such as soda lime glass and the inner surface of the second insulating substrate 12. A data electrode (address electrode) 13 made of Al, Cu, Ag or the like, a dielectric layer 14 made of zinc-containing frit glass, lead-containing frit glass or the like covering the data electrode 13, Xe, Kr (krypton), A discharge gas such as Ar (argon) or N ₂ (nitrogen) is filled alone or mixed to secure the discharge gas space 3 and to separate the discharge cells in the row direction H and the column direction V. The partition wall 15 made of lead-containing frit glass or the like formed along the surface, and the ultraviolet rays generated by the discharge of the discharge gas formed at positions covering the bottom surface and the wall surface of the partition wall 15 are converted into visible light (Y Ga) _BO 3: consisting of Eu or the like red phosphor layer _16R, Zn 2 _SiO 4: Mn green phosphor layer consisting of such 16G and _BaMgAl 14 _O 23: fluorescence was painted in blue phosphor layer 16B made of Eu, etc. And a body layer 16. Here, reference numeral 11 in FIG. 2 denotes a unit discharge cell (hereinafter also simply referred to as a cell), and the branch electrodes 5B and 6B are formed along the barrier ribs 15. The bus electrodes 5C and 6C are also disposed along the partition wall 15.

  The scan electrode 5, the sustain electrode 6 and the data electrode 13 constitute the above-described three electrodes, and the three unit discharge cells 11 including the phosphor layers 16R, 16G and 16B constitute one pixel of the screen. In such a color PDP, one pixel corresponds to three pixels of a monochrome PDP. A plurality of pixels are arranged in a matrix along the row direction H and the column direction V, whereby the PDP 10 is configured.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the discharge in the discharge gas space 3 is generated between the divided transparent electrode pieces 5A1 and 6A1 separated by the surface discharge gap 7 as will be described later, and the discharge is generated in the bus electrodes 5C and 6C. Extends to hundreds of microseconds towards. The divided transparent electrode pieces 5A and 6A are configured to be capacitively coupled to the branch electrodes 5B and 6B via the capacitive insulator 17, as shown in FIG. However, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the capacitive insulator 17 is not formed on the transparent electrode pieces 5 </ b> A and 6 </ b> A facing the discharge gas space 3, and the transparent electrode pieces 5 </ b> A and 6 </ b> A and the discharge gas space 3 are not formed. In between, the dielectric layer 8 and the protective layer 9 are interposed. Here, the capacitor insulator 17 is formed of a high-dielectric-constant insulating film such as low-melting glass, yttrium oxide, tantalum oxide, or silicon nitride having a film thickness of 1 μm to 20 μm mainly composed of lead oxide and zinc oxide. The film thickness is made thinner than that of the dielectric layer 8. The relative dielectric constant of the capacitor insulator 17 is about 5 to 200 after firing.

  The basic operation on the circuit for driving the above-described PDP 10 is exactly the same as that described in the prior art. That is, while applying a data pulse to the data electrode 13 of the back substrate 2 and applying a scan pulse to the bus electrode 5C of the front substrate 1, a write discharge is performed to select the unit discharge cells 11 to be displayed (light emission), Subsequently, a bipolar voltage is applied between the scan electrode 5 and the sustain electrode 6, and a sustain discharge (sustain discharge or sustain discharge) is performed by surface discharge of the selected cell.

  In this manner, the light emission characteristics and the driving voltage of the PDP 10 of the first embodiment and the conventional PDP 100 described with reference to FIGS. 25 to 21 were compared and evaluated. Here, in order to clarify the effect of the present invention, the configuration requirements other than the configuration of the floating transparent electrode pieces 5A and 6A for capacitive coupling and the configuration of the conventional transparent electrodes 105A and 106A, which are the features of this embodiment. Are the same, including dimensions and materials. Particularly, the dimensions and constituent materials of the discharge gas spaces 3 and 103, the dielectric layers 8 and 108, and the surface discharge gaps 7 and 107 were adjusted to be the same.

  As a result, the driving voltage greatly depends on the thickness of the dielectric layers 8 and 108 in the surface discharge gaps 7 and 107 region, and is substantially the same value if the material and thickness of the dielectric layers 8 and 108 are the same. became. On the other hand, in the luminous efficiency, the configuration of the PDP 10 of this example was significantly improved. This improvement in luminous efficiency is more significant than the improvement in luminous efficiency obtained by increasing the film thickness of the dielectric layer 108 described in the prior art. And as the discharge gas pressure becomes higher, the difference from the conventional method becomes obvious. In particular, the difference becomes significant when the gas pressure is 100 hPa or more.

Next, the mechanism that produces the effect in the above-described embodiment and the effect of the discharge expansion in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 6 (a) shows a transient time change of the voltage phi _F generated in a floating-shaped transparent electrode pieces 5A and when the voltage phi _B to be applied to the bus electrodes 5C when performing discharge schematically . FIG. 6B schematically shows a cross-sectional structure of the bus electrode 5C and the discharge gas space 3 corresponding to the transient time change.

As shown in FIG. 6A, the moment when voltage V _B (for example, 150 V to 200 V) is applied between the bus electrode 5C of the scan electrode 5 and the bus electrode 6C of the sustain electrode 6 in order to cause surface discharge, FIG. 6B shows an undischarged state, and almost no discharge (glow discharge) is generated in the discharge gas space 3. Then, the voltage φ _F of the transparent electrode piece 5A of the scan electrode 5 is boosted to the voltage V _FI as shown by φ _{F in} FIG. 6A by capacitive coupling via the capacitive insulator 17. Subsequently, the discharge gas in the discharge gas space 3 is ionized by the voltage V _FI applied to the transparent electrode piece 5A, and discharge starts. When the discharge shown in FIG. 6B is reached, φ _F of the transparent electrode piece 5A is V _FS. Will drop automatically. Then, in a steady state in which discharge occurs in the discharge gas space 3, φ _F of the transparent electrode piece 5A is held as V _FS .

The details of the above mechanism are complicated because the structure of the plasma 18 generated by the discharge must also be considered. Therefore, hereinafter, the mechanism will be described with a simplified equivalent circuit in order to make it qualitatively easy to understand. Voltage phi _F of the floating-shaped transparent electrode piece 5A in the structure shown in FIG. 6 (b) is expressed by equation (1).

Here, C ₀ is the capacitance value of the capacitor insulator 17, C _D is the capacitance of the capacitance value of the laminated film of the protective layer 9 and the dielectric layer 8, the C _V is the discharge gas space 3 from the bus electrode 6C of the sustain electrode 6 Value. These capacitance value is a value that corresponds to the charge to follow the change in the voltage phi _F, so that the series connection between the bus electrodes 5C and 6C. The C ₀ value is determined by controlling the overlapping area between the branch electrodes 5B and 6B and the transparent electrode pieces 5A and 6A, the film thickness of the capacitive insulator 17, and the relative dielectric constant of the insulating material. be able to.

During the undischarged, little _{C V} values charges in the discharge gas space 3 is small, is approximated as _{C V}刧_{C D} in equation (2), the _{V FI} value is equal to _{V B} value. Actually, the value is smaller than this, but in any case, it is close to the _VB value.

On the other hand, plasma 18 is generated in the discharge gas space 3 during discharge. The plasma structure to be generated varies depending on conditions such as the pressure of the discharge gas and the power to be applied, but for simplification, the equivalent circuit of the plasma including the ion sheath generated on the surface of the dielectric layer 8 is excluded from consideration. Assuming that the potential of the surface of the dielectric layer 8 facing the plasma 18 is substantially the ground potential, the V _FS value is expressed by the equation (3), and is a value obtained by capacitively dividing the capacitor insulator 17 and the dielectric layer 8. . In fact it is a value larger than this will be reduced to a value smaller than V _B value Anyway.

  As described above, in the embodiment, a high voltage is applied to the transparent electrode piece 5A at the start of discharge, but once the discharge starts, the voltage of the transparent electrode piece 5A automatically decreases, and the ions in the discharge gas space 3 The electric field applied to the sheath is reduced, and the energy of the electrons therein is optimized so as to increase the excitation efficiency. And the excitation efficiency of VUV light generation is improved and the light emission efficiency is increased.

The effect of expanding the discharge in this embodiment is generated based on the transparent electrode piece 5A divided as shown in FIG. Here, FIG. 7A shows the voltage φ _B applied to the bus electrode 5C when discharging and the voltages φ _F1 , φ generated at the four transparent electrode pieces 5A1, 5A2, 5A3, 5A4 in the floating state at that time. The transitional time change of _F2 , (phi) _F3 , (phi) _F4 is shown typically. FIG. 7B schematically shows a cross-sectional structure of the bus electrode 5 </ b> C and the discharge gas space 3 corresponding to the transient time change.

To cause surface discharge, the moment when the voltage V _B is applied between the bus electrode 6C of the bus electrode 5C and the sustain electrode 6 of the scanning electrodes 5, as described in FIG. 6 (b), at the time of undischarged There is almost no discharge (glow discharge) in the discharge gas space 3. Then, the voltages φ _F1 , φ _F2 , φ _F3 , and φ _F4 of the four transparent electrode pieces 5A1 to 5A4 of the scanning electrode 5 are capacitively coupled through the capacitive insulator 17 as shown in FIG. , All are boosted to the voltage _VFI . Then, the voltage V _FI according to the transparent electrode piece 5A1 closest placement and sustain electrode 6 described above, the discharge gas in the discharge gas space 3 located under the Introduction transparent electrode piece 5A1 is ionized, in this region Plasma 18 is generated. This corresponds to the initial stage of discharge shown in FIG. When the plasma 18 is generated by this discharge, φ _F1 of the transparent electrode piece 5A1 decreases to V _FS as described with reference to FIG. Then, in the steady state discharge in the discharge gas space within 3 occurs, phi _F1 of the transparent electrode piece 5A1 is held at a V _FS.

Subsequently, the turn voltage V _FI applied to the transparent electrode piece 5A2, ionized discharge gas of the discharge gas space 3 located under the transparent electrode piece 5A2 is, plasma is generated in this region. Then, in the same manner as the voltage drop of the transparent electrode pieces 5A1 described above, in the steady state where phi _F2 of the transparent electrode piece 5A2 drops to V _FS, discharge in the discharge gas space within 3 occurs, transparent electrode pieces phi _F2 of 5A2 is held at a _{V FS.} Subsequently, the same voltage change is sequentially generated in the voltages φ _F3 and φ _F4 of the transparent electrode pieces 5A3 and 5A4, and a desired region of the discharge gas space 3 is obtained as shown in FIG. All are discharged.

  As described above, the transient change in the voltage generated in each of the four floating transparent electrode pieces 5A1 to 5A4 is independent in the discharge state of the discharge gas space 3 located below the electrode pieces. To occur. For this reason, the expansion of the discharge in the discharge gas space 3 becomes very easy. And this expansion effect becomes so remarkable that discharge gas pressure becomes high. Here, if the transparent electrode piece 5A has an integral floating electrode structure without being divided, a discharge occurs through a part of the floating electrode, that is, a part closest to the sustain electrode 6, as described in the problem of the prior art. Since the voltage of the entire following electrode is lowered by the discharge, the discharge does not spread sufficiently in the discharge gas space 3 and the discharge is localized. Eventually, the light emission efficiency of the cell is lowered. This localization of discharge becomes more prominent when the pressure of the discharge gas is increased.

  In the first embodiment described above, the transparent electrode pieces 5A and 6A are both formed of four electrode pieces having the same shape, but the number and shape of the electrode pieces can be variously changed.

8 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a PDP according to a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along arrow X ₃ -X ₃ in FIG. 8, and FIG. 10 is an arrow X ₄ -X _{4 in} FIG. FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along the line Y ₂ -Y ₂ in FIG. Here, components similar to those in FIGS. 1 to 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals. The configuration of this example is different from that of the first embodiment in that a capacitive insulator 17 is formed on the branch electrodes 5B and 6B when viewed from the discharge gas space 3, and the transparent electrode pieces 5A and 6A are laminated on the capacitive insulator 17. It becomes the structure to do. If it is the structure of this PDP, the details will be described later, makes it easier to control the film thickness of the capacitor insulator 17, the capacitance value C _D of the capacitance value C ₀ and the dielectric layer 8 of the capacitor insulator 17 described above is PDP It can be controlled with high precision on the surface, and stable discharge with small in-plane variation becomes possible. The differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described below. The configuration of the back substrate 2 is exactly the same as in the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIGS. 8 to 11, the PDP 20 of this example is arranged so that the front substrate 1 and the rear substrate 2 face each other, as in the first embodiment, and a discharge gas is disposed between the substrates 1 and 2. It has a basic configuration in which the space 3 is formed.

  Similar to the first embodiment, on the surface of the first insulating substrate 4 made of a transparent material such as glass, the branch electrodes 5B connected to the bus electrodes 5C and 6C made of a low-resistance metal material such as Al, Cu, Ag, etc. 6B are made of the same material. Then, a silicon oxide film having a film thickness of 0.2 μm to 5 μm and silicon nitride are formed on the entire surface of the first insulating substrate 4 so as to cover them by a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method of the reactive gas. An insulating film such as a film or a tantalum oxide film is formed to form the capacitor insulator 17.

  A pair of transparent electrode pieces 5A and 6A having a predetermined divided electrode piece in a predetermined shape is provided on the surface of the capacitor insulator 17. 8 to 11, the transparent electrode piece 5A includes three electrode pieces 5A1, 5A2, and 5A3 that are divided in the column direction and extend in the row direction, and the transparent electrode piece 6A is also divided in the column direction to obtain a row. It consists of three electrode pieces 6A1, 6A2, 6A3 extending in the direction. Further, the dielectric layer 8 and the protective layer 9 are formed by being laminated on the transparent electrode pieces 5A and 6A. Here, the dielectric layer 8 is the same as the first embodiment, and a low melting point glass having a film thickness of 10 μm to 50 μm is formed by a screen printing method or other methods such as a die coating method and a blade coating method. The dielectric constant of the dielectric layer 8 is about 5 to 20 after firing.

Here, in the structure of the PDP 20 of this embodiment, the capacitor insulator 17 can be easily formed on the entire surface of the first insulating substrate 4 by the PECVD method or the like. For this reason, as described above, the film thickness can be easily controlled, and the capacitance value C ₀ can be set with high accuracy. The dielectric layer 8 is similarly formed by screen printing even setting of the capacitance values C _D will be able to highly accurately. In this manner, as can be seen from the mechanism described in FIGS. 6 and 7 of the first embodiment, the voltages of the transparent electrodes 5A and 6A at the start of discharge in the discharge gas space 3 and at the time of discharge have high accuracy as designed. Therefore, stable operation is possible with little variation in PDP driving.

  In the second embodiment described above, the width of the transparent electrode pieces 5A3, 6A3 arranged close to the bus electrodes 5C, 6C is set to be larger than that of the other transparent electrodes 5A1, 5A2, and 6A1, 6A2. It is. Note that. In this example, the width of the transparent electrode pieces 5A3 and 6A3 arranged closest to the bus electrodes 5C and 6C is larger than that of the other transparent electrodes 5A1 and 5A2 and 6A1 and 6A2 that are far from the bus electrodes 5C and 6C. It is set as follows. By doing so, the discharge extension to the discharge gas space 3 located under the bus electrodes 5C and 6C is eliminated in the unit discharge cell 11, and the bus electrode 5C covered with the capacitive insulator 17 and the dielectric layer 8 is eliminated. Even if the partition wall 15 is not provided in the 6C region, no discharge occurs between the adjacent bus electrodes 5C and 6C. Eliminating the formation of the partition wall 15 facilitates the manufacture of the PDP in the second embodiment, leading to a reduction in manufacturing cost.

  In the second embodiment described above, as mentioned in the first embodiment, the number and shape of the electrode pieces can be appropriately changed.

12 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a PDP according to a third embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view taken along arrow X ₅ -X ₅ in FIG. 12, and FIG. 14 is an arrow X ₆ -X _{6 in} FIG. FIG. 15 is a sectional view taken along the line Y ₃ -Y ₃ in FIG. Here, components similar to those in FIGS. 1 to 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals. The structure of this example is different from the first and second embodiments, and floating transparent electrode pieces 5A and 6A (gas discharge electrodes) formed of a transparent conductor material and divided into several pieces are branched through a resistor 31. It becomes a structure connected to the electrodes 5B and 6B individually. Although the details of this PDP structure will be described later, the luminous efficiency of the PDP is improved as in the first and second embodiments. The differences from the first and second embodiments will be mainly described below. The configuration of the back substrate 2 is exactly the same as in the first and second embodiments.

  As shown in FIGS. 12 to 15, the PDP 30 of this example is arranged so that the front substrate 1 and the rear substrate 2 face each other as in the first embodiment, and the discharge gas is disposed between the substrates 1 and 2. It has a basic configuration in which the space 3 is formed.

  As in the first and second embodiments, transparent electrode pieces 5A, 6A comprising electrode pieces 5A1, 5A2, 5A3, 5A4 and 6A1, 6A2, 6A3, 6A4 are formed on the surface of the first insulating substrate 4 made of a transparent material such as glass. Is provided. Then, branch electrodes 5B and 6B connected to the bus electrodes 5C and 6C made of a low resistance material are formed, and the branch electrodes 5B and 6B are electrically connected to the transparent electrode pieces 5A and 6A through the resistor 31, respectively. ing. Here, the capacitive insulator 31 is formed of a high resistance material using a transparent oxide resistance material or the like. A dielectric layer 8 and a protective layer 9 are provided on the entire surface of the first insulating substrate 4 so as to cover them.

Also in the third embodiment described above, while the discharge in the discharge gas space 3 continues, the voltage φ _F of the transparent electrode pieces 5A and 6A decreases, and the electric field applied in the discharge gas space 3 is reduced. The energy of the electrons is optimized to increase the excitation efficiency. And the excitation efficiency of VUV light generation is improved and the light emission efficiency is increased.

A mechanism for producing the effect of the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Here, FIG. 16 (a), the time variation of the steady state voltage phi _F generated in a floating-shaped transparent electrode piece 5A AC voltage phi _B to be applied to the bus electrodes 5C and at the time when performing the discharge This is shown schematically. FIG. 16B schematically shows a cross-sectional structure of the scan electrode 5 region and the discharge gas space 3 in the above discharge state.

As shown in FIG. 16 (a), _{(v B} for example 100kHz is 150V～200V) AC voltage phi _B between the bus electrode 6C of the bus electrode 5C and the sustain electrode 6 of the scanning electrode 5 is applied, FIG. 16 ( As shown in b), when discharge occurs and plasma 18 is generated in the discharge gas space 3, an alternating current i flows through the plasma 18, and an alternating current i also flows through the resistor 31. For this reason, a voltage drop occurs and the amplitude voltage v _FS of the AC voltage φ _F of the transparent electrode piece 5A is smaller than the v _B value by i × r, where r is the resistance value of the resistor 31. In this way, as described above, the electric field applied to the ion sheath in the discharge gas space 3 is reduced, the kinetic energy of electrons therein is reduced, the excitation efficiency of VUV light generation is improved, and the light emission efficiency is increased. It will be.

  In the third embodiment described above, as mentioned in the first and second embodiments, the number and shape of the electrode pieces can be changed as appropriate.

  17 and 18 are plan views showing a schematic configuration of a PDP according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. Here, the same components as those in the drawings referred to in the description of the first to third embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals. In the configuration of this example, the scan electrode 5 and the sustain electrode 6 of the PDP have a structure combining the transparent electrode piece structure of the first to third embodiments and the transparent electrode structure of the prior art. Although the details of the structure of this PDP will be described later, the stability of discharge is further improved along with the effects produced in the first to third aspects. The differences from the first to third embodiments will be mainly described below. The structure is the same as in the first to third embodiments except for the structure of the scan electrode 5 and the sustain electrode 6.

  In the PDP 40 of this example, as shown in FIG. 17, the scanning electrode 5 includes a floating transparent electrode piece 5A, a branch electrode 5B, a bus electrode 5C, a connection electrode piece 5D, and a discharge gap electrode 5E. Here, the transparent electrode piece 5A, the branch electrode 5B and the bus electrode 5C are formed in the same manner as in the first embodiment. The connection electrode piece 5D is a transparent electrode, and is electrically connected to the branch electrode 5B at the mark x in the figure. Further, the discharge gap electrode 5E is also a transparent electrode, and is electrically connected to the branch electrode 5B at the mark x in the figure, and is disposed in parallel with the bus electrode 5 as a common electrode between cells. Similarly to the case of the scanning electrode 5, the sustain electrode 6 is also composed of a floating transparent electrode piece 6A, a branch electrode 6B, a bus electrode 6C, a connection electrode piece 6D, and a discharge gap electricity 6E. Here, the electrode pieces 5A, 5D, 5E and 6A, 6D, 6E are gas discharge electrodes.

  With such a configuration of the discharge electrode, it becomes very easy to stabilize the charging in the area of the surface discharge gap 7 that governs the discharge, and the driving stability of the PDP is improved. In the PDP 40, the connection electrode pieces 5D and 6D have a function of improving the uniformity and stability of discharge in the cell.

  In the PDP 50 of this example, as shown in FIG. 18, the scanning electrode 5 includes a floating transparent electrode piece 5A, a branch electrode 5B, a bus electrode 5C, a connection electrode piece 5D, and a discharge gap electrode 5E. The Here, the transparent electrode piece 5A, the branch electrode 5B, and the bus electrode 5C are formed in the same manner as in the third embodiment. Here again, the connection electrode piece 5D is a transparent electrode, and is electrically connected to the branch electrode 5B at the mark x in the figure. Further, the discharge gap electrode 5E is also a transparent electrode, and is electrically connected to the branch electrode 5B at the mark “X” in the figure. However, unlike the case of FIG. 17, the discharge gap electrode 5E is provided as an electrode piece similar to the other electrode pieces. Similarly to the case of the scan electrode 5, the sustain electrode 6 is also composed of a floating transparent electrode piece 6A, a branch electrode 6B, a bus electrode 6C, a connection electrode piece 6D, and a discharge gap electricity 6E.

The effect in this case is the same as in the case of the PDP 40, and the discharge gap electricity 5E and 6E stabilize the charging in the area of the surface discharge gap 7 and improve the driving stability of the PDP. The connection electrode pieces 5D and 6D further enhance the uniformity and stability of discharge in the cell.
Thus, in the fourth embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, among the pair of transparent electrode pieces, the pair of discharge gap portion electrode pieces 5E and 6E and the pair of connection electrode pieces 5D and 6D are as follows: Although the case where the respective branch electrodes 5B and 6B are electrically connected directly has been described, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIGS. Only the pair of discharge gap portion electrode pieces 5E and 6E may be directly electrically connected to the corresponding branch electrodes 5B and 6B, or alternatively, as shown in FIGS. Only the pair of connection electrode pieces 5D and 6D may be directly electrically connected to the corresponding branch electrodes 5B and 6B. Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 23 and 24, the discharge gap electrode With pieces 5E, 6E A part of the transparent electrode pieces 5A and 6A formed between the connecting electrode pieces 5D and 6D (divided electrode pieces) may be directly electrically connected to the branch electrodes 5B and 6B. The substantially same effect as described above can be obtained. In short, among the electrode pieces constituting the surface discharge electrode, if at least a pair of electrode pieces forming a pair with the surface discharge gap portion interposed therebetween are directly electrically connected to the bus electrodes (branching electrodes 5B and 6B), It is possible to improve the uniformity and stability of charging and discharging. That is, the point in Example 4 is that at least a pair of electrode pieces among the plurality of pairs of transparent electrode pieces constituting the scan electrode 5 and the sustain electrode 6 are electrically connected directly to the branch electrodes 5B and 6B. It is.

  Even in the case of the fourth embodiment, it is needless to say that the number and shape of the electrode pieces described in the first to third embodiments can be changed as necessary.

  The embodiments and examples of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to the examples, and the design can be changed without departing from the gist of the present invention. Are included in the present invention. For example, although the AC surface discharge type PDP has been described in the embodiment, the present invention is applied to a structure that discharges between a gas discharge electrode provided on the front substrate and an address electrode provided on the rear substrate, that is, a counter discharge type PDP. Can be applied in exactly the same way. Further, in Example 4, the combination structure of the electrode piece structure of the present invention and the conventional electrode structure has been described. However, the present invention combines the structure using the capacitive insulator of the present invention and the structure using the resistor. You may make it the structure currently made.

It is a disassembled perspective view which shows schematic structure of PDP which is 1st Example of this invention. It is a top view which shows schematic structure of the PDP. Is _X 1 -X ₁ arrow sectional view of FIG. Is _X 2 -X ₂ cross-sectional view taken along FIG. Is a _Y 1 -Y ₁ arrow sectional view of FIG. It is the voltage waveform diagram which shows the basic operation | movement of the 1st Example, and typical sectional drawing of a gas discharge electrode part. It is the voltage waveform diagram which shows the basic operation | movement of the 1st Example, and typical sectional drawing of a gas discharge electrode part. It is a top view which shows schematic structure of PDP which is 2nd Example of this invention. Is _X 3 -X ₃ cross-sectional view taken along FIG. A _X 4 -X ₄ arrow sectional view of FIG. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along arrow Y ₂ -Y _{2 in} FIG. 2. It is a top view which shows schematic structure of PDP which is 3rd Example of this invention. Is _X 5 -X ₅ cross-sectional view taken along FIG. Is _X 6 -X ₆ cross-sectional view taken along FIG. FIG. ₃ is a cross-sectional view taken along arrow Y ₃ -Y _{3 in} FIG. 2. It is the voltage waveform diagram which shows the basic operation | movement of the 3rd Example, and typical sectional drawing of a gas discharge electrode part. It is a top view which shows schematic structure of PDP which is 4th Example of this invention. It is a top view which shows schematic structure of another PDP which is 4th Example of this invention. It is a top view which shows schematic structure of PDP which concerns on the modification of 4th Example of this invention. It is a top view which shows schematic structure of PDP which concerns on another modification of 4th Example of this invention. It is a top view which shows schematic structure of PDP which concerns on another modification of 4th Example of this invention. It is a top view which shows schematic structure of PDP which concerns on another modification of 4th Example of this invention. It is a top view which shows schematic structure of PDP which concerns on another modification of 4th Example of this invention. It is a top view which shows schematic structure of PDP which concerns on another modification of 4th Example of this invention. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows schematic structure of the conventional PDP. Is _V 1 -V ₁ arrow sectional view of Fig. 25. Is _W 1 -W ₁ arrow sectional view of Fig. 25.

Explanation of symbols

1 Front substrate (first substrate)
2 Back substrate (second substrate)
3 Discharge gas space 4 1st insulating substrate 5 Scan electrode 5A, 6A Transparent electrode piece (Transparent electrode piece group; Gas discharge electrode)
5B, 6B Branch electrode 5C, 6C Bus electrode 5D, 6D Connection electrode piece 5E, 6E Discharge gap part electrode 6 Sustain electrode 7 Discharge gap 8, 14 Dielectric layer 9 Protective layer 10, 20, 30, 40 PDP (Plasma display) panel)
11 Unit discharge cell (display cell)
12 Second insulating substrate 13 Data electrode (address electrode)
15 partition 16 phosphor layer 16R red phosphor layer 16G green phosphor layer 16B blue phosphor layer 17 capacitive insulator (capacitive insulator)
18 Plasma 31 Resistor

Claims (19)

A first substrate comprising a gas discharge electrode for display of a dielectric layer coating that constitutes display cells arranged in a matrix in a display region, and a bus electrode that is arranged in a row direction and supplies power to the gas discharge electrode And a second substrate that is disposed to face the first substrate across a discharge gas space and includes partition walls that partition the display cells in the display region and address electrodes that are arranged in a column direction. In the plasma display panel,
The gas discharge electrode is divided into a plurality of electrode pieces on the same surface, and at least some of the electrode pieces are individually electrically coupled to the bus electrode through a capacitive insulator or a resistor. Plasma display panel.   2. The plasma display panel according to claim 1, wherein the gas discharge electrodes are separated in a column direction to form the electrode pieces.   3. The plasma display panel according to claim 1, wherein two or more of the electrode pieces are electrically coupled to the bus electrode through the capacitive insulator or resistor.   4. The plasma display panel according to claim 1, wherein the display gas discharge electrode comprises a pair of surface discharge electrodes for performing gas discharge in a discharge gas space of the display cell.   5. The plasma display panel according to claim 4, wherein one or both of the pair of surface discharge electrodes are divided into the electrode pieces.   5. The plurality of pairs of electrode pieces constituting the pair of surface discharge electrodes, at least a pair of electrode pieces sandwiching a surface discharge gap portion are directly electrically connected to the bus electrode. Or the plasma display panel of 5.   7. The plasma display panel according to claim 6, wherein each electrode piece constituting the pair of surface discharge electrodes is made of a transparent conductor material and extends in the row direction within the display region.   The plasma display panel according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein some of the electrode pieces are made of a transparent conductive material.   9. The plasma according to claim 1, wherein the electrode piece and the bus electrode are electrically coupled to each other in a region where no gas discharge occurs in the display cell. Display panel.   10. The plasma display panel according to claim 9, wherein the electrical connection between the electrode piece and the bus electrode is made through a branch electrode connected to the bus electrode and disposed at a position overlapping the pattern of the partition walls. .   The electrical connection between the electrode piece and the bus electrode is made through a branch electrode made of a transparent conductive material connected to the bus electrode. Plasma display panel.   The capacitor insulator is formed on a surface of the electrode piece, the branch electrode is disposed so as to overlap with a partial region of the electrode piece via the capacitor insulator, and the first substrate surface is the first substrate surface. The plasma display panel according to claim 10, wherein the plasma display panel faces two substrates.   The capacitor insulator is formed on the surface of the branch electrode, the electrode pieces are arranged so as to overlap the branch electrode via the capacitor insulator, and the first substrate surface is formed on the second substrate. The plasma display panel according to claim 10, wherein the plasma display panels are opposed to each other.   The plasma display panel according to claim 1, wherein the capacitive insulator is made of an oxide or a nitride.   The plasma display panel according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the resistor is made of a transparent oxide resistor material. The discharge gas sealed in the discharge gas space includes at least one of Xe, Kr, Ar, and N _{2 and has} a partial pressure of 100 hPa or more. The plasma display panel as described.   The width in the column direction of the electrode piece at a position close to the bus electrode among the plurality of electrode pieces electrode-coupled to the bus electrode is larger than the other electrode pieces. The plasma display panel according to any one of the above.   The plasma display panel according to any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein the plurality of electrode pieces electrically coupled to the bus electrode have the same size.   The plasma display panel according to claim 1, wherein a film thickness of the capacitive insulator is smaller than a film thickness of the dielectric layer.

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