JP4352765B2 - Method for manufacturing plasma display panel - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a plasma display panel that displays an image by generating a discharge between electrodes.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A plasma display panel (PDP) is a display device with excellent visibility characterized by a large screen, a thin shape, and a light weight. PDP discharge methods include AC and DC types, and electrode structures include a three-electrode surface discharge type and a counter discharge type. However, at present, AC type three-electrode PDPs, which are AC type and surface discharge type, are mainstream because they are suitable for high definition and easy to manufacture.
[0003]
The front plate of the AC type three-electrode PDP is formed by forming a plurality of pairs of scan electrodes and sustain electrodes as display electrodes in parallel with each other on a transparent and insulating substrate such as glass on the front side and covering these display electrodes. In this way, a dielectric layer and a protective layer are formed.
[0004]
The back plate is formed by forming a plurality of address electrodes on an insulating substrate such as glass on the back side in parallel with each other, forming a dielectric layer so as to cover the address electrodes, and further on the dielectric layer. A plurality of barrier ribs are formed in parallel with the address electrodes, and a phosphor layer is formed on the surface of the dielectric layer and the side surfaces of the barrier ribs.
[0005]
The front plate and the back plate are sealed so that the display electrodes and the address electrodes are orthogonal to each other, and the discharge gas is sealed in the discharge space inside.
[0006]
The PDP assembled as described above generally has a high operating voltage (voltage necessary for lighting the entire panel uniformly), and discharge itself is also unstable. This is considered to be because an impurity gas (H ₂ O, CO ₂ , hydrocarbon gas, etc.) is adsorbed on the surface of the protective layer made of MgO. Therefore, in the manufacturing process of the PDP, aging is performed by removing these adsorbed gases by sputtering by discharge for the purpose of lowering the operating voltage and making the discharge characteristics uniform and stable.
[0007]
As such an aging method, conventionally, a method of applying a rectangular pulse having an opposite phase as an alternating voltage between display electrodes, that is, scan electrodes and sustain electrodes over a long period of time has been employed (for example, Patent Documents). 1).
[0008]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-75207
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
If the aging process performed on the PDP manufactured as described above is performed in a state where the uniformity of the discharge start voltage is not obtained in the plane of the PDP 1, the aging process is performed in a region where the discharge start voltage is low. Therefore, the operating voltage is further reduced, and the aging effect of uniformizing and stabilizing the discharge characteristics is easily obtained. On the other hand, in a region where the discharge start voltage is high, discharge due to aging is unlikely to occur, and thus it is difficult to obtain the aging effect of lowering the operating voltage, equalizing and stabilizing discharge characteristics.
[0010]
That is, if the aging process is performed in a state where the uniformity of the discharge start voltage is not obtained due to reasons such as variations in manufacturing, non-uniformity of the discharge start voltage is further promoted, and as a result As a result, there arises a problem that the display characteristics of the image in the plane vary.
[0011]
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and is capable of performing uniform aging on the image display area of the plasma display panel and making the image display characteristics uniform in the plane. It aims at providing the manufacturing method of a panel.
[0012]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a plasma display panel manufacturing method according to the present invention opposes a front plate and a back plate having electrodes to which a driving voltage for image display is applied, so that a discharge space is formed. A plasma display panel manufacturing method comprising: an aging step of generating an electric discharge in a discharge space by applying an aging voltage to the electrode, and then performing the aging step. The aging voltage is set to a predetermined constant value , and the amount of current flowing at the time of discharge in aging is controlled to be a predetermined value or less.
It is characterized by this.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
That is, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is a plasma display in which a front plate and a back plate having electrodes to which a drive voltage for performing image display is applied are opposed to each other so as to form a discharge space. A method of manufacturing a plasma display panel comprising an aging step of manufacturing a panel and then applying an aging voltage to the electrode to generate a discharge in a discharge space, wherein the aging voltage is predetermined when performing the aging step. and of a constant value, and the amount of current flowing during the discharge in the aging is controlled to be a fixed value or less, a method of manufacturing a plasma display panel, characterized in that.
[0014]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the discharge is sequentially generated for each partial region of the image display region of the plasma display panel. Is.
[0015]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the discharge is sequentially applied to the image display area of the plasma display panel for each partial area at the initial stage of the aging process. And then generated simultaneously on the entire surface.
[0016]
Hereinafter, a method for manufacturing a plasma display panel according to an embodiment of the invention will be described.
[0017]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a plasma display panel.
[0018]
The front plate 2 of the PDP 1 is maintained with the scanning electrode 4 which is one of electrodes to which a driving voltage for image display is applied on a smooth, transparent and insulating substrate 3 such as float glass. A plurality of display electrodes 6 composed of the electrodes 5 are formed, and so that the display electrode 6 is covered, lead oxide (PbO), bismuth oxide (Bi ₂ O ₃ ), or phosphorus oxide (PO ₄ ) as a main component is low. A dielectric layer 7 made of melting point glass is formed, and a protective layer 8 made of, for example, MgO is formed on the dielectric layer 7 for the purpose of protecting the dielectric layer 7 from damage caused by plasma. Scan electrode 4 and sustain electrode 5 are discharge electrodes, respectively, transparent electrodes 4a and 5a made of ITO or tin oxide (SnO ₂ ), and electrically connected to transparent electrodes 4a and 5a, for example Cr The bus electrodes 4b and 5b are made of / Cu / Cr, Ag, or the like.
[0019]
The back plate 9 has a plurality of address electrodes 11, which are one of electrodes to which a drive voltage for image display is applied, on an insulating substrate 10 such as glass. A dielectric layer 12 is formed so as to cover. A partition wall 13 is provided on the dielectric layer 12 at a position corresponding to between the address electrodes 11, and a phosphor layer 14 is provided over the surface of the dielectric layer 12 and the side surface of the partition wall 13.
[0020]
The front plate 2 and the back plate 9 are arranged so that the display electrodes 6 and the address electrodes 11 are perpendicular to each other with a partition wall 13 interposed therebetween so as to form a discharge space 15. As the gas, at least one kind of rare gas of helium, neon, argon, and xenon is sealed at a pressure of about 66500 Pa (500 Torr), and the scan electrode 4 is partitioned by the partition wall 13 and serves as the address electrode 11 and the display electrode 6. Further, the discharge cell 16 that operates at the intersection with the sustain electrode 5 is a unit light emitting region.
[0021]
In this PDP 1, by applying a driving voltage, which is a periodic voltage, to the address electrode 11 and the display electrode 6, a discharge is generated in the discharge cell 16, and the phosphor layer 14 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays from the discharge to make visible light. An image is displayed by converting the image.
[0022]
Here, in the manufacturing method of the PDP 1 having the above configuration, immediately after the manufacturing, the operating voltage, which is a voltage necessary for lighting the entire PDP 1 uniformly, is high, and the discharge itself is unstable. This is considered to be because an impurity gas such as H ₂ O, CO ₂ , or hydrocarbon gas is adsorbed on the MgO surface which is the protective layer 8.
[0023]
Therefore, for the purpose of lowering the operating voltage and making the discharge characteristics uniform and stable, an aging process is performed in which these adsorbed gases are removed by sputtering by discharge after the production of the PDP 1. In this aging process, an aging voltage which is at least a predetermined voltage equal to or higher than the operating voltage is applied to the display electrode 6 and the address electrode 11 to generate a discharge in the discharge space 15.
[0024]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the state of the PDP 1 in the aging process. As shown in FIG. 2A, the scanning electrode 4 (X1, X2,..., Xn) and the sustaining electrode 5 (Y1, Y2,..., Yn) of the PDP 1 at the time of aging are uniformly applied to these electrodes. In addition, the aging device 103 is connected via the short-circuit electrodes 101 and 102 that short-circuit each other so that current is supplied. The aging device 103 includes a pulse generator 103a and a power source 103b for alternately applying an aging voltage to the scan electrode 4 and the sustain electrode 5.
[0025]
Further, the address electrodes 11 (A 1, A 2,..., Am) are in a state of being grounded, for example, via the short-circuit electrode 104.
[0026]
FIG. 2B schematically shows a waveform of a pulse voltage that is an aging voltage applied from the aging device 103 to the scan electrode 4 and the sustain electrode 5, and a rectangular pulse voltage of the voltage Vs is alternately output. By applying the voltage to the scan electrode 4 and the sustain electrode 5, a discharge is generated in the discharge space 15 and aging is performed.
[0027]
Here, in the above aging process, for example, the film thickness of the dielectric layer 7 and the film quality of the protective layer 8 have a certain degree of variation for each PDP 1 due to the reasons in the manufacturing process of the PDP 1. There may be an individual difference between the PDPs 1 in the traveling speed, which may cause a problem in the management of the manufacturing process of the PDP 1.
[0028]
Here, it has been confirmed by the study conducted by the present inventors that the aging progress rate tends to be proportional to the current that flows during discharge in aging. Therefore, the current of the power source 103b of the aging device 103 is confirmed. By performing the aging process by limiting the amount, that is, controlling the amount to be a certain value or less, it is possible to reduce the individual difference between the PDPs 1 in the aging progress speed. As a method for limiting the current amount of the power source 103b, a method using a power source corresponding to constant current control as the power source 103b, a method of separately providing a circuit for limiting the current amount, and the like can be given.
[0029]
Furthermore, the uniformity of the film thickness of the dielectric layer 7 and the film quality of the protective layer 8 may not be sufficient in the plane of the image display area of the PDP 1, and in such a case, the discharge start voltage is distributed in the plane. Will have. In such a case, when the same aging voltage is simultaneously applied to the entire surface of the PDP 1 with the configuration shown in FIG. 2, the region does not reach the discharge start voltage and is not easily aged, or an overdischarge state occurs and aging is extremely fast. An area that progresses or the like is generated, and the aging progress is distributed. That is, there arises a problem that the difference between the region that is easily aged and the region that is not easily aged tends to increase as the ageing proceeds.
[0030]
Here, in order to suppress such a problem, for example, it is effective to age the PDP 1 in such a state that the schematic configuration is shown in a block diagram in FIG.
[0031]
That is, for example, one scanning electrode 4 or a plurality of scanning electrodes 4 are taken out by the short-circuit electrode 101 in an independent state for each of the plurality of regions, and the sustain electrode 5 is collected by the short-circuit electrode 102 in a state where the entire electrodes are gathered together. By taking out the electrodes, the scanning electrode 4 is applied to only one or a plurality of scanning electrodes 4 and the sustaining electrode 5 is applied to the whole as shown in FIG. 3B. An aging voltage is applied. As a result, it is possible to perform aging by generating an aging discharge for only one specific line or a plurality of lines. Then, by sequentially switching the selection of the scanning electrode 4 to which the aging voltage is applied by the switching element 105, the region where the aging discharge of the above form is generated is sequentially switched, and finally the entire surface of the PDP 1 is aged. . Of course, the current amount of the power source 103b of the aging device 103 is controlled to be limited, that is, below a certain value.
[0032]
As described above, even if there is a distribution in the discharge start voltage within the plane of the PDP 1, aging is performed for each region, so that it is possible to suppress the occurrence of distribution due to the aging progress state.
[0033]
In the above example, the entire surface is divided into areas for each line, and aging is performed in units thereof. However, by applying a pulse voltage to the address electrode 11, the whole area is also divided in the line direction such as a rectangular unit. Aging can be performed for each area. An example of an aging voltage sequence applied to the scan electrode 4, the sustain electrode 5, and the address electrode 11 at this time is shown in FIG. Aging discharge occurs at the intersection between the scanning electrode 4 in the lighting row and the address electrode 11 in the lighting column, and aging is performed.
[0034]
Here, as described above, the aging region is divided into a plurality of locations and sequentially aged, whereby it is possible to suppress the aging progress state from being varied in the plane, but on the other hand, it is necessary for the aging process. The trouble that time will become long arises. For this, instead of sequentially aging the divided areas, the aging process is performed by simultaneously performing aging for each divided area by the aging device 103 including the pulse generator 103a and the power source 103b. It is possible to shorten it.
[0035]
In addition, the discharge start voltage has a distribution in the plane immediately after the production such that the protective layer 8 maintains the crystallinity at the time of film formation. Such an aging method may be applied, and thereafter an aging process of applying a conventional aging method to the entire surface may be performed. Here, as one guideline at the initial stage of aging, a period until a pulse voltage of about 6 to 8 × 10 ⁹ times is applied to the scan electrode 4 and the sustain electrode 5 respectively.
[0036]
When the discharge portion of the protective film 8 of the front plate 2 was observed with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) or the like on the PDP 1 subjected to aging as described above, the density of the image by the black and white photograph of the SEM It was confirmed that the variation was within about 5%. This is because the area where the protective film 8 is aged and the area where it is not aged so much differ in the secondary electron emission ability upon receiving electrons from the SEM, and the number of secondary electrons is different. This is because it is expressed as the color shading of the SEM photograph. That is, as an effective means for determining the aging state by the aging process, a method of performing image processing on the shade of the SEM photograph can be mentioned.
[0037]
In the above description, a surface discharge AC type three-electrode PDP is described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the same effect can be obtained for all PDPs that emit light by gas discharge. Is possible.
[0038]
In the above description of the aging process, the scan electrode 4 and the sustain electrode 5 may be replaced with each other.
[0039]
Moreover, in the above, since it is thought that the limitation made by the process etc. until it encloses discharge gas is not received at all, the manufacturing method of PDP1 before an aging process is the same as the manufacturing method of the conventional PDP.
[0040]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the method for manufacturing a plasma display panel of the present invention, it is possible to perform uniform aging on the image display area of the plasma display panel and make the display characteristics of the image uniform in the plane. [Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a plasma display panel. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a state of an aging process in a plasma display panel manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the invention. The block diagram which shows the state of the aging process in the manufacturing method of the plasma display panel by one Embodiment of FIG. 4 The figure which shows an example of the sequence of an aging voltage
1 Plasma display panel (PDP)
2 Front plate 4 Scan electrode 5 Sustain electrode 6 Display electrode 9 Back plate 11 Address electrode 15 Discharge space

Claims (3)

A plasma display panel is manufactured in which a front plate and a rear plate having electrodes to which a driving voltage for image display is applied are arranged so as to form a discharge space, and then an aging voltage is applied to the electrodes. A plasma display panel manufacturing method including an aging process for generating discharge in a discharge space,
When performing this aging step, the aging voltage is set to a predetermined constant value , and the amount of current flowing during discharge in aging is controlled to be a predetermined value or less.
A method of manufacturing a plasma display panel.   The method of manufacturing a plasma display panel according to claim 1, wherein the discharge is sequentially generated for each partial area of the image display area of the plasma display panel.   2. The discharge according to claim 1, wherein the discharge is sequentially generated for each part of the image display area of the plasma display panel in the initial stage of the aging process, and thereafter is generated simultaneously on the entire surface. Of manufacturing a plasma display panel.

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