JP3378193B2 - Plasma address display - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plasma addressed display device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a matrix type electro-optical device using a liquid crystal cell as an electro-optical cell, such as a liquid crystal display device, has a high resolution and a high contrast. An active matrix addressing method is generally known in which an element is provided and the element is driven line-sequentially. However, in this case, it is necessary to provide a large number of semiconductor elements such as thin film Trang Soo data on a substrate, there is a disadvantage that the production yield when particularly large area becomes worse. Therefore, recently, a method has been proposed in which a switch based on plasma discharge is used instead of a switching element including a thin film transistor.

FIG. 10 is a partial sectional structural view of a conventional plasma addressed display device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-293264. As shown in FIG. 10, the plasma addressed display device has a flat panel structure in which a liquid crystal cell, a plasma cell and a dielectric sheet 17 interposed therebetween are laminated. The liquid crystal cell includes a plurality of data electrodes (row electrodes) 18 extending in the left-right direction, which are provided at predetermined intervals in the direction parallel to the paper surface of FIG. 10, and a dielectric sheet 17 and a data electrode 18. And a liquid crystal layer 19 filled with liquid crystal. The plasma cell includes a glass substrate 20, plasma chambers 21a, 21b and 21c, cathode electrodes 22a and 22.
b, 22c, anode electrodes 23a, 23b, 23c and barrier ribs 24. On the glass substrate 20, the cathode electrodes 22a, 22b and 22c and the anode electrodes 23a and 2a are formed in a stripe pattern extending in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing.
3b and 23c are formed. Further, barrier ribs 24 reaching the lower surface of the dielectric sheet 17 are formed by a striped pattern.

In the case of the conventional plasma addressed display device shown in FIG. 10, an anode formed of a stripe pattern is used.
Barrier ribs 24 reaching the lower surface of the dielectric sheet 17 are formed in a stripe pattern on the electrode electrodes 23a, 23b and 23c. Cathode electrodes 22a, 22b, 2
2c is exposed in the plasma chambers 21a, 21b, and 21c. Plasma chambers 21a, 2 individually sealed by a dielectric sheet 17, a glass substrate 20, and a barrier rib 24.
Ionizable gas is enclosed in 1b and 21c. As this gas, for example, helium, neon, argon, xenon or a mixed gas thereof is used.

In the above structure, for example, when a predetermined voltage is applied to the cathode electrode 22a and the anode electrodes 23a and 23b corresponding to the plasma chamber 21a shown in FIG. 10, the cathode electrode 22a and the anode electrode 22a are connected to each other. -De electrodes 23a, 23
b acts as a cathode and an anode, respectively, the gas in the plasma chamber 21a is selectively ionized to generate plasma discharge, and the inside thereof is maintained at a substantially anodic potential. When a data voltage is applied to the data electrode 18 in this state, the liquid crystal layer 1 of the pixel corresponding to the plasma chamber 21a.
A data voltage is written in the circuit 9 through the dielectric sheet 17. When the plasma discharge ends, the plasma chamber 21a becomes a floating potential, and the voltage written in the liquid crystal layer 19 of the corresponding pixel is held until the next writing period (for example, after one frame). At this time, the plasma chamber 21a functions as a sampling switch, and the liquid crystal layer 19 of each pixel functions as a sampling capacitor. Since the liquid crystal is operated by the data voltage written from the data electrode 18 to the liquid crystal layer 19 of each pixel, display is performed in pixel units. Therefore, a two-dimensional image is displayed by sequentially scanning in the row direction a pair of plasma chambers that generate a plasma discharge and write a data voltage in the liquid crystal layer 19 of a plurality of pixels arranged in the column direction. You can

[0006]

As described above, in the plasma addressed display device, display is performed by writing an image signal of a predetermined voltage to the display cell while the plasma sampling switch is conductive. The conduction state of the plasma sampling switch depends on the ions and electrons generated by the plasma discharge in the discharge channel. Some particles are excited to a metastable state by plasma discharge and then return to the ground state. After the plasma discharge in the discharge channel is completed, such metastable atoms exist for a relatively long period of time and generate ions and atoms although in a trace amount. Therefore, the plasma sampling switch remains in the conductive state for a while even after the discharge is completed.

The plasma sampling switch is completely returned to the non-conducting state when the metastable atoms are almost completely returned to the ground state. Therefore, it is the decay time until the metastable atom returns to the ground state that finally determines the signal charge written in the display cell. The time allotted to one scan line varies depending on the display method.
In the case of A, it is 34.7 μsec, and in the case of high definition display such as high-definition, it is 20 μsec or less. If the writing period assigned to one scanning line does not correspond to the decay time (lifetime) of the metastable atom, writing of an image signal synchronized with line-sequential scanning cannot be completed. Therefore, when performing high-definition display such as high-definition, it is necessary to set the decay time to at least 20 μsec or less, preferably 10 μsec or less.

In the case of the plasma substrate in the above-mentioned conventional plasma address display device, Ni is used as an electrode material in a large screen of 40 inch class, and considering the aperture ratio, the pitch is 1 mm, the anode electrode width is 0.3 mm, Caso
The width of the cathode electrode is 0.2 mm, and the electrode distance between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode is about 0.25 mm. As the gas, xenon gas having a pressure of about 25 Torr was mainly used. The decay time in this case was about 30 μsec. Therefore, there is a problem that the conventional plasma substrate and gas cannot perform high-definition display such as high definition.

As a countermeasure for this, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-313883
Although a method of adding a trace amount of an inert gas such as hydrogen to a rare gas has been proposed, it is difficult to uniformly mix it in the panel. There is a problem that the ratio changes, and the decay time changes with the place and time. Further, as a method of shortening the decay time with the above-mentioned conventional plasma substrate structure and gas type, there is a method of increasing the gas pressure.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the relationship between the Xe gas pressure and the decay time. As shown in FIG. 11, even with xenon gas used conventionally, the decay time is 30 μsec at 25 Torr, but 10 μs at 60 Torr.
It becomes ec, and high-definition display is possible in terms of the decay time. However, increasing the gas pressure in the conventional plasma substrate causes an increase in discharge current.

FIG. 12 shows experimental results showing the relationship between the xenon gas pressure and the discharge current in the conventional structure. The discharge current is proportional to the square of the gas pressure, and in a 40-inch panel with a discharge electrode length of 1 m, the discharge current of one discharge channel is 2.
What was 100 mA at 5 Torr is now 60 Torr
Then, it will increase to 600mA. For this reason, there is a problem that a large increase in power consumption and a remarkable sputtering on the surface of the cathode at the time of discharge are caused, and the life is greatly reduced. At the same time, if the discharge voltage is further increased in order to make the discharge state uniform in the panel, the higher the gas pressure, the more likely it is that local arc discharge will occur, and the drive margin will drop. In the case of the conventional structure, the gas pressure is 6
At 0 Torr, the driving margin is about 10 (V).

Further, in the conventional plasma substrate, as a method of reducing the decay time while keeping the same gas species as the material, the partition wall height is lowered in order to increase the rate of diffusion of metastable atoms into the plasma substrate constituent. However, in this case, the plasma discharge starting voltage greatly increases, which causes a problem of increased power consumption and increased cost of the driving IC.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises an electro-optical cell and a plasma cell stacked with an intermediate sheet interposed between the plasma cell and a plasma cell that discharges a gas that can be discharged to the intermediate sheet. A plasma address having a substrate bonded through an enclosing space, a stripe-shaped discharge electrode and a stripe-shaped barrier rib formed on the substrate, and a discharge channel being formed between adjacent barrier ribs. In the display device, at least one pair of the discharge electrodes is formed in the discharge channel, and the interval is 5 μm or more and less than 100 μm.
Are arranged substantially symmetrically in the discharge channel.
The discharge gas, which is a dischargeable gas, is xenon.
The Paschen curve shows the minimum pressure of the discharge gas.
Pressure less than Pmim (Torr), Pmim-50 (To
rr) or more , whereby the above object is achieved.

It is preferable that a plurality of pairs of the discharge electrodes are arranged in the discharge channel.

[0015]

The operation will be described below. The present invention includes an electro-optical cell and a plasma cell, which are stacked via an intermediate sheet, and the plasma cell is a substrate bonded to the intermediate sheet through a space for enclosing a dischargeable gas. And a discharge electrode in stripes and stripe-shaped barrier ribs formed on the substrate, and a discharge channel is formed between the barrier ribs adjacent to each other, wherein the discharge electrode is At least one pair is formed in the discharge channel and has an interval of 5 μm or more 10
Since it is characterized in that it is less than 0 μm, it is possible to make the electric field contributing to the discharge close to the equal electric field instead of the non-uniform electric field. That is, it becomes possible to cause discharge by an electric field with little electric field concentration and distortion. Therefore, it is possible to stably start discharge and generate uniform discharge at a low voltage. Also, since the concentration of the electric field is reduced and the concentration of the discharge is less likely to occur, it is possible to discharge with a low discharge current, and the power consumption due to the current increase due to the high gas pressure, which has been a problem in the past. It is possible to significantly improve the increase and shorten the life.

That is, in order to set the decay time to 10 μsec or less for high-definition display such as high-definition, it is possible to increase the gas pressure and shorten the decay time without increasing the discharge current. Therefore, it is possible to solve the problems of increased power consumption and short life, which have been problems in the past. In addition, since local discharge due to electric field concentration becomes difficult to occur, even if the discharge voltage is increased to make the discharge state uniform in the panel, local arc discharge is less likely to occur, resulting in high gas pressure. Even in this case, it is possible to achieve a wide plasma discharge of the driving margin. Further, by setting the distance between the pair of stripe-shaped discharge electrodes to 5 μm or more, the problem of life due to the electrode material being sputtered between the electrodes and the electrodes being short-circuited as the usage time increases, It is possible to achieve a sufficiently long life.

Since the discharge electrodes are arranged substantially line-symmetrically in the discharge channel, the plasma uniformly spreads throughout the plasma chamber. Therefore, the electric field applied to the liquid crystal becomes uniform, and uneven display does not occur.

The pressure of the discharge gas is equal to or lower than the pressure Pmim (Torr) at which the Paschen curve shows a minimum, Pmim-50.
Since it is set to (Torr) or more, uniform discharge can be obtained even when the plasma discharge electrode length for a large-sized plasma address display device exceeds 1 m. If the discharge gas pressure is lowered too much, the discharge starting voltage will rise, but it is less than or equal to Pmim and 50 or less than Pmim.
If the pressure is lower than Torr, it is possible to obtain a uniform discharge with almost no increase in the discharge start voltage.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a plasma addressed display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the plasma addressed display device has a flat panel structure in which a liquid crystal cell, a plasma cell and a dielectric sheet 1 interposed therebetween are laminated.

The liquid crystal cell comprises a plurality of data electrodes (row electrodes) 2 extending in the left-right direction, which are provided in a direction parallel to the paper surface of FIG. 1 at predetermined intervals, a dielectric sheet 1 and a data electrode. 2 and a liquid crystal layer 3 filled with liquid crystal. The plasma cell comprises a glass substrate 4, plasma chambers 5a, 5b, 5c, cathode electrodes 6a, 6b, 6c, anode electrodes 7a, 7b,
7c and a barrier rib 8. On the glass substrate 4,
Striped pattern extending in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface
The anode electrodes 6a, 6b, 6c and the anode electrodes 7a, 7b,
7c is formed. Further, barrier ribs 8 reaching the lower surface of the dielectric sheet 1 are formed by a striped pattern. Dielectric sheet 1, glass substrate 4, barrier rib 8
Plasma chambers 5a, 5b, 5c individually sealed by
A gas that can be ionized is enclosed in the. As this gas, for example, helium, neon, argon, xenon or a mixed gas thereof is used.

In the above structure, for example, the cathode electrode 6a and the anode corresponding to the plasma chamber 5a shown in FIG.
When a predetermined voltage is applied to the cathode electrode 7a, the cathode electrode 6a and the anode electrode 7a are respectively connected to the cathode and anode.
The gas in the plasma chamber 5a is selectively ionized to generate plasma discharge, and the inside of the plasma chamber 5a is maintained at a substantially anodic potential. In this state, the data electrode 2
When a data voltage is applied to the liquid crystal layer 3 of the pixel corresponding to the plasma chamber 5a, the data voltage is written through the dielectric sheet 1. When the plasma discharge ends, the plasma chamber 5a becomes a floating potential, and the voltage written in the liquid crystal layer 3 of the corresponding pixel is changed to the next writing period (for example, 1 frame).
It will be held until (after). At this time, the plasma chamber 5a functions as a sampling switch, and the liquid crystal layer 3 of each pixel functions as a sampling capacitor. Since the liquid crystal is operated by the data voltage written from the data electrode 2 to the liquid crystal layer 3 of each pixel, display is performed in pixel units. Therefore, a two-dimensional image is displayed by sequentially scanning in the row direction a pair of plasma chambers that generate a plasma discharge and write a data voltage in the liquid crystal layer 3 of a plurality of pixels arranged in the column direction. You can In FIG. 1, the first feature of the present invention is that the distance between the pair of stripe-shaped discharge electrodes is 5 μm or more and less than 100 μm.

2 to 5 are the results of experiments conducted to confirm the effect of the present invention. In the experiment, in the cell shown in FIG. 1, a plasma cell was manufactured in which the barrier rib pitch was 1 mm, the stripe-shaped discharge electrode length was 1 m, the barrier rib height was 300 μm, the electrode width was 20 to 100 μm, and the electrode interval was changed from 3 μm to 580 μm. It was done by doing. Xenon was used as the filling gas. Further, Ni having a thickness of 20 μm was used as the electrode material.

FIG. 2 shows a so-called Paschen minimum, which is a minimum value in a curve obtained by measuring the discharge start voltage at various xenon gas pressures in a plasma cell manufactured under such conditions and plotting the relationship between the discharge start voltage and the gas pressure. It is the figure which compared the discharge starting voltage in Pmim. As shown in FIG. 2, it was confirmed that the discharge start voltage sharply decreased when the distance between the pair of striped discharge electrodes was less than 100 μm. Here, it is generally known that the relationship between the discharge start voltage and (gas pressure × distance between electrodes) is constant depending on the type of gas, and the minimum value of the discharge start voltage is also a constant value. (Sangyo Tosho Co., Ltd., “Basics of Plasma Engineering”) However, as shown in FIG. 3, the minimum value of the discharge start voltage becomes smaller as the electrode spacing becomes narrower, and the minimum value in the region below the gas pressure is reached. It was confirmed by experiments that the rising curve of the discharge start voltage also becomes gentle. In particular, when the electrode interval is smaller than 100 μm, the rising curve tends to become gentle.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a discharge current required to obtain a uniform discharge when the xenon gas pressure of the plasma cell is 50 Torr and the electrode width is 50 μm. Figure 4
It can be seen that the electric field concentration is reduced and the local high-energy discharge is suppressed by making the electrode interval smaller, so that the discharge current can be significantly reduced. When the electrode interval is 70 μm, the discharge current is reduced to about 25 mA. This is because electric field concentration is reduced and local high energy discharge is suppressed.

As an example of the relationship between the actual discharge current and the xenon gas pressure, the electrode spacing is 70 μm and the electrode width is the same as the conventional one.
The measurement results for the case of 0 μm are shown in FIG. The electrode spacing (250 μm) in the conventional structure is 60 Torr
At that time, a large current of 600 mA was flowing. (Figure 12)
On the other hand, when the electrode spacing is 70 μm, the gas pressure is 60
The discharge current was 100 mA at Torr, and sufficient discharge was obtained with a small current.

As an example for realizing high definition display such as high definition with an actual high aperture ratio, a xenon gas pressure of 60 Torr and an electrode width of 70 μ in a plasma cell having the above structure.
m, electrode spacing 70 μm, barrier rib pitch 0.5 mm,
Striped discharge electrode length 1m, barrier rib height 100
μm. The characteristics of this plasma cell are as follows: decay time 10 μsec, discharge start voltage 280 (V), discharge current 5
It has a driving margin of 0 mA, a driving margin of 200 (V), a decay time capable of high-definition display such as high-definition, a low discharge starting voltage, and a wide driving margin with a very small discharge current density. Decay time is further shortened by using a higher gas pressure. For example, gas pressure 8
At 0 Torr, the decay time is 6 μsec.

The lower limit of the electrode interval is determined by the life. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing experimental results of discharge electrode intervals and life. As shown in this figure, when the electrode interval is 5 μm or less, the electrode material is deposited between the electrodes due to the sputtering of the electrode material in a few hundred hours, and the electrode is short-circuited, so that it functions as a discharge cell. It will disappear and the life will be extremely reduced. Therefore, the electrode interval needs to be 5 μm or more.

Next, the pressure of the discharge gas will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 shows the plasma cell structure of FIG. 1 with a barrier rib pitch of 0.5 mm and a stripe-shaped discharge electrode length of 1
m, barrier rib height 300 μm, electrode width 70 μm, electrode spacing 70 μm, and a plasma cell using Ni having a thickness of 20 μm as an electrode material was prepared, and the filling pressure of xenon as a filling gas was changed to change the discharge start voltage and the gas. Pressure relationship It is a measured curve, so-called Paschen curve. In the plasma addressed display device, it is important to discharge the entire stripe electrode uniformly, but the longer the stripe electrode, the more easily discharge unevenness occurs in the same electrode or in the entire panel. One of the causes is that the processing unevenness is mainly generated in the electrode processing process, that is, the electric field is locally concentrated due to a chip or a protrusion, or a weak electric field is formed.

Original electric field concentration due to the structure can be dealt with by setting the distance between the pair of stripe-shaped discharge electrodes to 5 μm or more and less than 100 μm, and a plasma panel having good discharge characteristics can be obtained. Although it is possible, the inventor of the present invention solves the problem caused by the above-mentioned unevenness of processing by setting the pressure at which the Paschen curve shows a minimum value to P
It has been found that, when the discharge pressure is mim, it is possible to obtain a very uniform discharge in the same electrode and in the entire panel by setting the pressure of the discharge gas to Pmim or less. However, as shown in FIG. 7, if the pressure of the discharge gas is lowered too much, the discharge start voltage rises, resulting in an increase in power consumption and an increase in the cost of the drive IC. Therefore, the pressure of the discharge gas is less than or equal to Pmim and 50 Torr than Pmim.
r It may be set to a low pressure or more. In particular, by decreasing the electrode spacing as in the present invention, the rising curve of the discharge starting voltage below Pmim becomes gentle, and therefore the discharge starting voltage may rapidly increase even at a pressure lower than Pmim by 50 Torr. Absent.

FIG. 8 shows a barrier rib pitch of 0.5 mm, a stripe-shaped discharge electrode length of 1 m, and a barrier rib height of 300 μ.
m, an electrode width of 70 μm, xenon as a discharge gas, and a plasma cell of Ni having a thickness of 20 μm as an electrode material, P,
It is a measurement result of the relationship between mim and the electrode interval. When realizing high-definition display such as high-definition, the decay time is 1
It is necessary to set it to 0 μsec or less, but when the xenon gas of this embodiment is used, it is 60 Torr as shown in FIG.
It is necessary to make the gas pressure above. In that case, when using a xenon gas and a Ni electrode, the electrode interval is 10
It should be 0 μm or less. In this way, the maximum value of the electrode interval is appropriately determined according to the target decay time.
Furthermore, considering the electrode interval of 5 μm to 100 μm, which is a feature of the present invention, the maximum value of the electrode interval in this case is about 100 μm. However, since Pmim changes depending on the type of gas used, the discharge electrode material, the structure, etc., the values described here are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to Ni as an electrode material.
It can be applied to all materials commonly used as electrodes, such as l, lanthanum hexaboride and the like. Also, the gas species is not limited to xenon, but is applicable to all gases known as discharge gas, such as argon, helium, neon and the like.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a partial cross-sectional view of the plasma addressed display device of the second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 9, the plasma addressed display device has a flat panel structure in which a liquid crystal cell, a plasma cell and a dielectric sheet 9 interposed therebetween are laminated.

The liquid crystal cell comprises a plurality of data electrodes (row electrodes) 10 extending in the left-right direction, which are provided at predetermined intervals in the direction parallel to the paper surface of FIG. 9, and a dielectric sheet and a data electrode 10.
And a liquid crystal layer 11 filled with liquid crystal.

The plasma cell comprises a glass substrate 12, plasma chambers 13a, 13b and 13c, a cathode electrode 14a1,
14b1, 14c1, 14a2, 14b2, 14c2,
It has anode electrodes 15a, 15b, 15c and barrier ribs 16.

On the glass substrate 12, a cathode electrode 14a1 is formed in a stripe pattern extending in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing.
14b1, 14c1, 14a2, 14b2, 14c2,
And anode electrodes 15a, 15b, 15c are formed. Further, a barrier rib 16 reaching the lower surface of the dielectric sheet 9 is formed by a striped pattern.

Further, the electrodes 14a1 and 15a, 14a2 and 15b, 14b1 and 15b, 14b2 and 15c, 14c.
1 and 15c and 14c2 and 15d function as a pair.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, the discharge electrode pairs are arranged substantially symmetrically in the plasma chamber. In this way, since the discharge electrodes are arranged in line symmetry and a plurality of pairs are arranged, the plasma uniformly spreads throughout the plasma chamber. Therefore, the electric field applied to the liquid crystal is uniform, and display unevenness does not occur in the cell.

In FIG. 9, the barrier rib 16 and the one electrode of the discharge electrode pair partially overlap each other.
The present invention is not limited to this, and the barrier rib 16 and the one electrode of the discharge electrode pair may not have a part where they partially overlap. Plasma chambers 13a, 1 individually sealed by a dielectric sheet 9, a glass substrate 12, and a barrier rib 16.
Ionizable gas is enclosed in 3b and 13c. As this gas, for example, helium, neon, argon, xenon or a mixed gas thereof is used. In the above structure, for example, the cathode electrodes 14a1 and 14a2 corresponding to the plasma chamber 13a shown in FIG.
When a predetermined voltage is applied to the anode electrodes 15a and 15b, the cathode electrodes 14a1 and 14a2 and the anode electrodes 15a and 15b act as cathodes and anodes, respectively, and the electrodes 14a1 and 15a. Between, and 14a2
A discharge is generated between No. 15b and No. 15b, the inside of the plasma chamber 13a is filled with gas plasma, and the inside is maintained at a substantially anodic potential.

When a data voltage is applied to the data electrode 10 in this state, the data voltage is written to the liquid crystal layer 11 of the pixel corresponding to the plasma chamber 13a via the dielectric sheet 9. Be done. When the plasma discharge ends, the plasma chamber 13a
Becomes a floating potential, and the voltage written in the liquid crystal layer 11 of the corresponding pixel is held until the next writing period (for example, after one frame). At this time, the plasma chamber 13a functions as a sampling switch, and the liquid crystal layer 11 of each pixel functions as a sampling capacitor. Since the liquid crystal is operated by the data voltage written from the data electrode 10 to the liquid crystal layer 11 of each pixel, display is performed in pixel units. Therefore, a two-dimensional image is displayed by sequentially scanning in the row direction a pair of plasma chambers that generate a plasma discharge and write a data voltage in the liquid crystal layer 11 of a plurality of pixels arranged in the column direction. You can

One of the features of this embodiment in FIG. 9 is that
The distance between the pair of striped discharge electrodes is 5 μm or more 1
It is less than 00 μm. In FIG. 9, the anode electrodes 15a, 15b and 15c are also formed under the barrier ribs and are connected to the adjacent discharge channels, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the anode electrodes are not limited thereto. The electrode electrodes 15a, 15b, 15c may have a divided structure so as to be exposed only to the respective discharge channels. The third feature of the present invention is that the discharge gas pressure is Pmim or less, and is 50% higher than Pmim.
Torr The pressure is set to a low pressure or higher. In a plasma addressed display device, it is important that the discharge is uniform in any part of the stripe-shaped discharge electrode, and it is important that the entire stripe electrode is uniformly discharged. Or, uneven discharge is likely to occur in the entire panel. The cause is mainly due to uneven processing in the electrode processing process, that is, local concentration of an electric field or a weak electric field is generated due to a chip or a protrusion.

Original electric field concentration due to the structure can be dealt with by setting the distance between the pair of stripe-shaped discharge electrodes to 5 μm or more and less than 100 μm, and a plasma panel having good discharge characteristics can be obtained. Although it is possible, the inventor of the present invention solves the problem caused by the above-mentioned unevenness of processing by setting the pressure at which the Paschen curve shows a minimum value to P
It has been found that, when the discharge pressure is mim, it is possible to obtain a very uniform discharge in the same electrode and in the entire panel by setting the pressure of the discharge gas to Pmim or less. However, as shown in FIG. 7, if the pressure of the discharge gas is lowered too much, the discharge start voltage rises, resulting in an increase in power consumption and an increase in the cost of the drive IC. Therefore, the pressure of the discharge gas is less than or equal to Pmim and 50 Torr than Pmim.
r It may be set to a low pressure or more.

[0043]

According to the present invention, a plasma address display device that can be driven at a low discharge voltage, can display a high-definition image with a decay time of 10 .mu.sec, has a low discharge current, a long life, and a wide driving margin is very simple. It becomes possible to obtain a high-performance plasma addressed display device with a structure and with a general discharge gas, at a very low cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a plasma addressed display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a relationship between an electrode interval and a discharge starting voltage.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a relationship between a xenon gas pressure and a discharge starting voltage.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a relationship between an electrode interval and a discharge starting voltage.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a relationship between a xenon gas pressure and a discharge current.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a relationship between an electrode interval and a life.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a relationship between a xenon gas pressure and a discharge starting voltage.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a relationship between an electrode interval and a minimum gas pressure of a Paschen curve.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the plasma addressed display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a plasma addressed display device.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a relationship between a xenon gas pressure and a decay time.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a relationship between a xenon gas pressure and a discharge current.

[Explanation of symbols]

17 Dielectric sheet 18 data electrodes 19 Liquid crystal layer 20 glass substrates 21a, 21b, 21c Plasma chamber 22a, 22b, 22c cathode electrodes 23a, 23b, 23c anode electrodes 24 Barrier rib

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-6-222347 (JP, A) JP-A-10-96901 (JP, A) JP-A-4-265934 (JP, A) JP-A-5- 297360 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02F 1/1333 H01J 11/00

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An electro-optical cell and a plasma cell, which are stacked via an intermediate sheet, are provided, and the plasma cell is bonded to the intermediate sheet through a space for enclosing a dischargeable gas. In a plasma addressed display device having a substrate, stripe-shaped discharge electrodes and stripe-shaped barrier ribs formed on the substrate, and forming discharge channels between the barrier ribs adjacent to each other, the discharge electrodes are At least one pair is formed in the discharge channel, and the interval is 5 μm.
Ri 100μm less der above, contact in the discharge channel
It is a gas that can be discharged because it is arranged in line symmetry.
The discharge gas is xenon, and the pressure of the discharge gas is
Below the pressure Pmim (Torr) at which the Shen curve shows a minimum
Below, Pmim-50 (Torr) or more , the plasma address display which features. 2. The plasma addressed display device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of pairs of the discharge electrodes are arranged in the discharge channel.