KR100536214B1 - Plasma display panel with igniter electrode - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a plasma display panel having a discharge sustaining electrode shape capable of lowering a discharge start voltage and stabilizing sustain discharge.

The plasma display panel includes: first and second substrates disposed to face each other; Address electrodes formed on the first substrate; A partition wall disposed in a space between the first substrate and the second substrate to partition the discharge cells; A fluorescent layer formed in the discharge cell; Discharge holding electrodes comprising a pair of scan electrodes and display electrodes formed of a metal film on a second substrate; And an ignition electrode extending from the discharge sustaining electrode and projecting toward the inside of the discharge cell.

Description

Plasma display panel with ignition electrode {PLASMA DISPLAY PANEL WITH IGNITER ELECTRODE}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plasma display panel, and more particularly, to a plasma display panel having an electrode structure for lowering power consumption and stabilizing sustain discharge, in addition to a discharge sustaining electrode made of a metal film.

In general, a plasma display panel (PDP) is a display device for realizing an image by exciting phosphors by vacuum ultraviolet rays caused by gas discharge occurring in a discharge cell. As a next-generation thin display device, the AC type PDP having a three-electrode surface discharge structure is commonly used.

Referring to FIG. 8, in the conventional AC PDP, an address electrode 3, a partition 5, and a fluorescent layer 7 are formed on the rear substrate 1 to correspond to each discharge cell, and the front substrate 9 is formed on the rear substrate 1. The discharge holding electrode 15 which consists of the scan electrode 11 and the display electrode 13 is formed. The address electrode 3 and the discharge sustain electrode 15 are covered with respective dielectric layers 17 and 19, and the discharge cells are filled with discharge gas (mainly Ne-Xe mixed gas).

With the above configuration, when the address voltage Va is applied between the address electrode 3 and the scan electrode 11, an address discharge occurs in the discharge cell, and as a result of the address discharge, the dielectric layer covering the discharge sustaining electrode 15 ( 19) Charge builds up, which is called wall charge. The space voltage formed between the scan electrode 11 and the display electrode 13 by the wall charge is called the wall voltage Vw, and the discharge cell in which the light emission is generated by the generation of the wall charge is selected.

Subsequently, when the discharge sustain voltage Vs is applied between the scan electrode 11 and the display electrode 13 of the selected discharge cell, the sum Vw of the discharge sustain voltage Vs and the wall voltage is required for the actual plasma discharge. Plasma discharge, that is, sustain discharge occurs while exceeding the discharge start voltage Vf. In addition, vacuum ultraviolet rays are emitted from the excitation atoms of Xe produced during plasma discharge, and the vacuum ultraviolet rays excite the fluorescent layer 7 to convert to visible light, thereby enabling color display.

In the PDP operating as described above, the shape of the discharge sustaining electrode 15 greatly influences the sustain discharge characteristics. The conventional discharge sustaining electrode 15 may transmit indium tin oxide (ITO) to transmit visible light generated in the discharge cell. transparent electrodes 11a and 13a, such as indium tin oxide, and the transparent electrodes 11a and 13a are formed in a stripe pattern so that a uniform discharge gap G is formed between the scan electrode 11 and the display electrode 13. The structure of providing) is universal.

However, the discharge holding electrode 15 made of the transparent electrode as described above, the transparent electrode itself is expensive, the process of forming a transparent electrode on the entire front substrate 9, and then patterning it additionally required to increase the manufacturing cost There are disadvantages. Moreover, since the transparent electrode has a very high resistance, there is a disadvantage in that additional bus electrodes 11b and 13b made of metal having a very low resistance such as silver (Ag) must be formed.

Therefore, efforts have been made to form a discharge sustaining electrode using only a metal pattern without using a transparent electrode, and the related art includes a "plasma display panel" disclosed in US Pat. No. 6,522,072. The discharge holding electrode made of the metal film has an advantage of lowering the manufacturing cost compared to the configuration to which the transparent electrode is applied.

However, the conventional discharge holding electrode made of the metal film including the above-mentioned patent has a possibility of lowering the screen brightness by lowering the aperture ratio of the PDP. Therefore, a structure that increases the aperture ratio by increasing the interval between the scan electrode and the display electrode is applied. have. However, in the above structure, since the discharge start voltage Vf increases, power consumption rises and sustain discharge becomes unstable, improvement is required.

In addition, the PDP operating as described above goes through several steps before inputting power and obtaining final visible light. In each of these processes, the energy conversion efficiency is not good and the efficiency (ratio of luminance to power consumption) indicated by the current PDP is not good. ) Is lower than cathode ray tubes. As a result, the problem of power consumption is one of the important improvement tasks of the PDP, and particularly in the case of a high-definition PDP of 40 inches or more, excessive power consumption has become an important improvement task.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the power consumption by lowering the discharge start voltage, to stabilize the sustain discharge, to improve the luminous efficiency, and to provide a stable plasma display panel. To provide.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention,

First and second substrates disposed to face each other, address electrodes formed on the first substrate, a partition wall disposed in a space between the first substrate and the second substrate to partition the discharge cells, and a fluorescent light formed in the discharge cell A plasma display panel includes a layer, discharge sustain electrodes formed of a metal film on a second substrate, and an ignition electrode extending from the discharge sustain electrodes to protrude toward the interior of the discharge cell.

The discharge sustaining electrode forms at least one opening in the discharge sustaining electrode corresponding to each discharge cell. The ignition electrode extends along the partition wall from the discharge sustaining electrode, branched toward the inside of the pair of discharge cells adjacent to the discharge sustaining electrode, and protrudes. In addition, at least one ignition electrode may be formed to correspond to each discharge cell, and may be formed of the same metal film as the discharge sustaining electrode.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a partially exploded perspective view of a plasma display panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partial plan view illustrating a coupling state of FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings, in the plasma display panel according to the present embodiment (hereinafter referred to as 'PDP'), the first substrate 2 and the second substrate 4 are disposed to face each other at arbitrary intervals, and between the two substrates. Discharge cells 6R, 6G and 6B are provided in the space to implement an arbitrary color image with visible light emission by an independent discharge mechanism of each discharge cell 6R, 6G and 6B.

In detail, the address electrodes 8 are formed in one direction (Y direction of the drawing) on the inner surface of the first substrate 2, and cover the address electrodes 8 to cover the first substrate 2. The lower dielectric layer 10 is formed over the entire inner surface. The address electrodes 8 are formed in a stripe pattern, for example, and are arranged side by side with a predetermined distance from the neighboring address electrodes 8.

On the lower dielectric layer 10, a partition 12, for example, a stripe 12 having a stripe pattern parallel to the address electrode 8, is formed, and red and green are disposed on the side surface of the partition 12 and the upper surface of the lower dielectric layer 10. Blue fluorescent layers 14R, 14G and 14B are provided. The partition wall 12 is formed at an arbitrary height between each address electrode 8 to form a discharge space between the first and second substrates 2 and 4. The shape of the partition 12 is not limited to the above-described stripe pattern, but may be formed in a closed structure such as a lattice.

On the inner surface of the second substrate 4 opposite to the first substrate 2, a discharge composed of the scan electrode 16 and the display electrode 18 is arranged along a direction orthogonal to the address electrode 8 (the X direction in the drawing). The sustain electrode 20 is formed, and the upper dielectric layer 22 and the MgO passivation layer 24 are disposed on the entire inner surface of the second substrate 4 while covering the discharge sustain electrodes 20.

By the combination of the first substrate 2 and the second substrate 4, the discharge space where the address electrode 8 and the discharge sustain electrode 20 intersect serves as one discharge cell, and the discharge cell has a discharge gas ( Predominantly Ne-Xe mixed gas).

Here, the PDP according to the present embodiment forms the discharge sustaining electrode 20 made of a metal film without the transparent electrode, and reduces the discharge gap between the scan electrode 16 and the display electrode 18. It provides an electrode shape that can stabilize the sustain discharge while lowering the discharge start voltage. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 2, with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the discharge sustaining electrode and the ignition electrode will be described. FIG.

Referring to the drawings, the discharge sustaining electrode 20 is formed of a metal film, for example, a silver (Ag) thin film, which forms at least one opening 28 in an electrode corresponding to the discharge cells 6R, 6G, and 6B. In the drawing, the scan electrode 16 and the display electrode 18 have been described with an example in which a pair of rectangular openings 28 are formed corresponding to each of the discharge cells 6R, 6G, and 6B, but the shape of the openings 28 is illustrated. And the number is not limited to the illustrated structure, it can be variously modified.

As a result, the scan electrode 16 and the display electrode 18 are positioned at the center of each discharge cell 6R, 6G, and 6B with the first discharge gap G1 interposed therebetween. Is secured to transmit visible light generated in the discharge cells 6R, 6G, and 6B to the second substrate 4 during the sustain discharge.

In addition, an ignition electrode 26 extending from the scan electrode 16 and the display electrode 18 is formed on the opposite surface where the scan electrode 16 and the display electrode 18 face each other. The ignition electrode 26 includes an extension portion 26a extending along the address electrode direction (Y direction in the drawing) at a portion of the opposite surface of the scan electrode 16 and the display electrode 18 corresponding to the partition wall 12, It consists of a projection 26b which protrudes toward the inside of discharge cell 6R, 6G, 6B at the end of extension part 26a.

The protruding portion 26b protrudes from the end of the extending portion 26a toward the inside of two adjacent discharge cells along the discharge sustaining electrode direction (the X direction in the drawing). Although the extension portion 26a and the protrusion 26b are shown to be perpendicular to each other in the drawing, the shape of the ignition electrode 26 is not limited thereto, and the extension portion 26a and the protrusion 26b are smaller than 90 °. It may be formed to have an acute angle or an obtuse angle greater than 90 °.

In the present embodiment, the ignition electrode 26 extends from each of the opposing surfaces of the scan electrode 16 and the display electrode 18 on each of the partition walls 12 and is adjacent to the discharge sustaining electrode 20. A pair of ignition electrodes 26 are arranged so as to face each other. The ignition electrode 26 is preferably made of the same metal film as the discharge sustaining electrode 20, for example a silver (Ag) thin film.

As the ignition electrode 26 forms the projection 26b toward the space between the scan electrode 16 and the display electrode 18, that is, the main discharge region, the pair of ignition electrodes 26 is the main In the discharge region, the second discharge gap G2 smaller than the first discharge gap G1 is interposed therebetween. As a result, the ignition electrode 26 serves as an igniter that causes plasma discharge even at a lower driving voltage during sustain discharge by reducing the discharge gap between the scan electrode 16 and the display electrode 18.

With the above-described configuration, when the address voltage Va is applied between the address electrode 8 and the scan electrode 16 of a specific discharge cell (for example, a red discharge cell), an address discharge occurs in the discharge cell 6R, As a result of the address discharge, wall charges are accumulated on the upper dielectric layer 22 covering the discharge sustain electrode 20 to select this discharge cell 6R.

Subsequently, when the discharge holding voltage Vs is applied between the scan electrode 16 and the display electrode 18 of the selected discharge cell 6R, the plasma discharge is discharged from the second discharge gap G2 between the ignition electrodes 26. The plasma discharge starts from the first discharge gap G1 between the scan electrode 16 and the display electrode 18, and then diffuses toward the outer portion of the discharge cell 6R. At this time, vacuum ultraviolet rays are emitted from the excitation atoms of Xe produced during plasma discharge, and the vacuum ultraviolet rays excite the fluorescent layer 14R of the discharge cell 6R and convert it into visible light, thereby enabling color display.

As such, in the present embodiment, the space charges generated by the discharge between the ignition electrodes 26 are applied to the first discharge gap G1 between the scan electrode 16 and the display electrode 18, that is, to start discharge in the main discharge region. As used, the discharge start voltage Vf can be lowered to enable low voltage driving. In addition, since the plasma discharge is simultaneously started at the outer and central portions of the discharge cells 6R, 6G, and 6B by the ignition electrode 26, the sustain discharge can be stabilized and the intensity of the sustain discharge can be enhanced to increase the luminous efficiency.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, most of the ignition electrodes 26 except for the ends of the protrusions 26b are formed on the partition 12 so that most of the ignition electrodes 26 are positioned outside the discharge cells 6R, 6G, 6B. Therefore, the present embodiment can limit the discharge current in the discharge cells 6R, 6G, 6B while lowering the discharge start voltage Vf by the ignition electrode 26, thereby extending the life of the ignition electrode 26. .

Next, modifications of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 7.

FIG. 4 is a first modification, in which case the ignition electrode 26 is formed from any one of the scan electrode 16 and the display electrode 18, for example, the scan electrode 16 based on the structure of the above-described embodiment. Is formed extending. In the present modification, the scan electrode 16 and the display electrode 18 are positioned in the discharge cells 6R, 6G, and 6B with the first discharge gap G1 interposed therebetween, and the discharge cells 6R, 6G, and 6B. In the outer portion of the ignition electrode 26 and the display electrode 18 is positioned with the third discharge gap G3 smaller than the first discharge gap G1, so that the ignition electrode 26 serves as an igniter during sustain discharge. Do this.

FIG. 5 is a second modification, in which case one ignition electrode 26 is alternately connected to the scan electrode 16 and the display electrode 18, based on the structure of the above-described embodiment. In other words, the ignition electrodes 26 are arranged one by one without being correspondingly arranged in each of the partition walls 12, and are disposed to be offset from each other so that the ignition electrodes 26 do not face each other in pairs.

As a result, the scan electrode 16 and the display electrode 18 are positioned in the discharge cells 6R, 6G, and 6B with the first discharge gap G1 interposed therebetween, and the outer side of one side of the discharge cells 6R, 6G, and 6B. The ignition electrode 26 and the display electrode 18 are positioned with the third discharge gap G3 smaller than the first discharge gap G1 interposed therebetween, and the other of the discharge cells 6R, 6G, 6B. In the outer portion, the ignition electrode 26 and the scan electrode 16 are positioned with the third discharge gap G3 interposed therebetween.

FIG. 6 is a third modification, in which case a pair of ignition electrodes 26 are arranged one by one, not corresponding to each partition wall 12, based on the structure of the above-described embodiment. That is, in this modification, a pair of ignition electrodes 26 are located in one partition 12 of two partitions 12. Therefore, at one outer side of the discharge cells 6R, 6G, 6B, a pair of ignition electrodes 26 are positioned with the second discharge gap G2 smaller than the first discharge gap G1 in the main discharge region. Serves as an igniter during sustain discharge.

7 is a fourth modified example, in which the tip of the protrusion 26b 'of the ignition electrode 26 is formed to be inclined in the direction in which the gap between the ignition electrodes becomes smaller, based on the structure of the above-described embodiment. In other words, the ends of the protrusions 26b 'at the ignition electrode 26 connected to the scan electrode 16 are formed to be inclined toward the display electrode 18 and the protrusions 26b at the ignition electrode 26 connected to the display electrode 18. ') The end is formed to be inclined toward the scan electrode 16.

As such, in the present variant, the pair of ignition electrodes 26 is smaller than the first discharge gap G1 at the periphery of the discharge cells 6R, 6G, 6B, in particular the second mentioned in the above-described embodiments and variants. And a fourth discharge gap G4 that is smaller than the third discharge gaps G2 and G3, and disposed therebetween, to more effectively serve as an igniter during sustain discharge.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the claims and the detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings. Naturally, it belongs to

Thus, according to the present invention, by providing a discharge holding electrode made of a metal film, it is possible to lower the electrode manufacturing cost compared to the conventional plasma display panel to which a transparent electrode is applied. In addition, since the ignition electrode is provided between the scan electrode and the display electrode, the discharge start voltage is lowered to reduce power consumption, and the stability of the sustain discharge is secured, thereby improving the discharge efficiency. Furthermore, as most of the ignition electrodes are disposed on the partition walls, it is possible to limit the discharge current in the discharge cells to extend the life of the ignition electrodes.

1 is a partially exploded perspective view of a plasma display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial plan view illustrating the coupled state of FIG. 1.

3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 2.

4 to 7 are partial plan views of the plasma display panel showing the first, second, third and fourth modifications of the embodiment of the present invention, respectively.

8 is a partially exploded perspective view of a plasma display panel according to the prior art.

Claims (16)

First and second substrates disposed to face each other; Address electrodes formed on the first substrate; A partition wall disposed in a space between the first substrate and the second substrate to partition discharge cells; A fluorescent layer formed in said discharge cell; Discharge holding electrodes formed of a metal film on the second substrate to form a first discharge gap; And And an ignition electrode extending from the discharge sustaining electrode to protrude toward the inside of the discharge cell to form a second discharge gap smaller than the first discharge gap. The method of claim 1, And the discharge sustaining electrode forms at least one opening in a discharge sustaining electrode corresponding to each of the discharge cells. The method of claim 1, And the ignition electrode extends along the partition wall from the discharge sustaining electrode and protrudes toward the inside of the discharge cell. The method of claim 1, And the ignition electrode extends from the discharge sustaining electrode along the partition wall and branched toward the inside of a pair of adjacent discharge cells in the discharge sustaining electrode direction. The method of claim 1, And at least one ignition electrode corresponds to each of the discharge cells. The method of claim 1, And the ignition electrode is formed of a metal film. First and second substrates disposed to face each other; Address electrodes formed on the first substrate; A partition wall disposed in a space between the first substrate and the second substrate to partition discharge cells; A fluorescent layer formed in said discharge cell; Discharge holding electrodes formed of a pair of scan electrodes and display electrodes formed of a metal film on the second substrate and forming a first discharge gap; And Extending from the discharge sustain electrodes A plasma display panel comprising an ignition electrode which controls being projected toward the inside of the discharge cells forming the second small second discharge gap than the first discharge gap. The method of claim 7, wherein And the scan electrode and the display electrode form at least one opening in an electrode corresponding to each of the discharge cells. The method of claim 7, wherein And the ignition electrode extends along the partition wall from the discharge sustaining electrode and protrudes toward the inside of the discharge cell. The method of claim 7, wherein And the ignition electrode extends from the discharge sustaining electrode along the partition wall and branched toward the inside of a pair of adjacent discharge cells in the discharge sustaining electrode direction. The method of claim 7, wherein And the ignition electrode extends from at least one of the scan electrode and the display electrode. The method of claim 11, And the ignition electrode is formed to correspond to neighboring partition walls in a direction of the discharge sustaining electrode. The method of claim 11, And the ignition electrode is alternately formed on the partition walls adjacent in the discharge sustaining electrode direction. The method of claim 7, wherein The ignition electrode, An extension part extending from the discharge sustaining electrode along a partition wall parallel to the address electrode; And And a protrusion protruding from the end of the extension portion toward the inside of the discharge cell. The method of claim 14, And the end portion of the protrusion is inclined in a direction in which the gap between the ignition electrodes is reduced. The method of claim 7, wherein And the ignition electrode is formed of a metal film.