KR100549668B1 - Plasma display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plasma display panel capable of preventing cell defects due to bubbles and foreign substances in the manufacturing process and improving contrast ratio.

The present invention provides stripe-shaped transparent electrodes, metal electrodes formed on the stripe-shaped transparent electrodes, protruding transparent electrodes protruding from each of the transparent electrodes, and predetermined intervals at ends of the protruding transparent electrodes. It is formed on the inside characterized in that it comprises a connection for connecting the projecting transparent electrodes.

As such, the present invention can improve the contrast ratio by reducing the black luminance. In addition, the present invention prevents non-discharge due to cell failure by supplying a discharge current from the transparent electrode of the other discharge cell through the connection part even if a cell failure in which the transparent electrode is broken due to foreign matter or bubbles occurs during the manufacturing process of the plasma display panel. can do. On the other hand, the present invention can reduce the power consumption of the sustain electrode pair by removing the transparent electrode material overlapping the non-discharge region and the partition wall of the discharge cell.

Description

Plasma Display Panel {PLASMA DISPLAY PANEL}             

1 is a view showing a discharge cell of a conventional three-electrode AC surface discharge plasma display panel.

FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating an electrode structure of the plasma display panel shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

3 is an enlarged view of a portion A shown in FIG. 2;

Figure 4 is a plan view showing the electrode structure of the electrodes of another conventional plasma display panel.

FIG. 5 is a plan view illustrating a signal flow applied to the electrodes illustrated in FIG. 4. FIG.

6 is a plan view illustrating an electrode structure of a plasma display panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a portion D shown in FIG. 6. FIG.

8 is a plan view illustrating a signal flow applied to the electrodes illustrated in FIG. 5.

<Description of Symbols for Main Parts of Drawings>

10: upper substrate 12: lower substrate

14, 16, 114, 116, 214, 216: sustain electrode pair 18: upper dielectric layer

14A, 16A, 114A, 116A, 214A, 216A: transparent electrode 20: protective film

14B, 16B, 114B, 116B, 214B, 216B: metal electrode 22: address electrode

24: lower dielectric layer 26,126,226: partition wall

28: phosphor layer 220: connection portion

214C, 216C: protruding transparent 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 capable of preventing cell defects due to bubbles and foreign substances in the manufacturing process and improving contrast ratio.

Recently, a plasma display panel (hereinafter referred to as "PDP"), which is easy to manufacture a large panel, has attracted attention as a flat panel display device. The PDP normally displays an image by adjusting the discharge period of each pixel according to the digital video data. As such a PDP, an AC type PDP having three electrodes and driven by an AC voltage is typical.

1 and 2, a conventional PDP cell includes an upper plate having sustain electrode pairs 14 and 16, an upper dielectric layer 18, and a passivation layer 20 sequentially formed on an upper substrate 10. A lower plate having an address electrode 22, a lower dielectric layer 24, a partition 26, and a phosphor layer 28 formed sequentially on the substrate 12 is provided. The upper substrate 10 and the lower substrate 12 are spaced in parallel by the partition wall.

Each of the sustain electrode pairs 14 and 16 has a relatively wide width and has a stripe-shaped transparent electrode 14A and 16A made of transparent electrode material (ITO) to transmit visible light, and has a relatively narrow width and transparency. In order to compensate for the resistive components of the electrodes 14A and 16A, the metal electrodes 14B and 16B are formed. At this time, the transparent electrodes 14A and 16A of the sustain electrode pairs 14 and 16 face each other with a predetermined gap therebetween. The sustain electrode pairs 14 and 16 are composed of a scan electrode and a sustain electrode. The scan signal for the panel scan and the sustain signal for maintaining the discharge are mainly supplied to the scan electrode 14, and the sustain signal is mainly supplied to the sustain electrode 16.

Charges accumulate in the upper dielectric layer 18 and the lower dielectric layer 24. The protective film 20 prevents damage to the upper dielectric layer 18 by sputtering, thereby increasing the lifetime of the PDP and increasing the emission efficiency of secondary electrons. As the protective film 20, magnesium oxide (MgO) is usually used.

The address electrode 22 is formed to cross the sustain electrode pairs 14 and 16. The address electrode 22 is supplied with a data signal for selecting cells to be displayed.

The partition wall 26 is formed in parallel with the address electrode 22 to prevent ultraviolet rays generated by the discharge from leaking to adjacent cells. The phosphor layer 28 is applied to the surfaces of the lower dielectric layer 24 and the partition wall 26 to generate visible light of any one of red, green, and blue. Then, an inert gas for gas discharge is injected into the discharge space therein.

The PDP cell of this structure is selected by the counter discharge between the address electrode 22 and the scan electrode 14, and then sustains the discharge by the surface discharge between the sustain electrode pairs 14 and 16. In the PDP cell, the fluorescent substance 28 emits light by ultraviolet rays generated during sustain discharge, so that visible light is emitted outside the cell. As a result, the PDP having cells displays an image. In this case, the PDP implements a gray scale required for displaying an image by adjusting the discharge sustain period of the cell, that is, the number of sustain discharges, according to the video data.

The AC surface discharge type PDP is driven by being divided into a plurality of subfields to express the gray level of the image. In each subfield period, gray scale display is performed by performing light emission in a number of times proportional to the weight of video data. do. For example, when an image is displayed in 256 gray scales using 8-bit video data, one frame display period (for example, 1/60 second = about 16.7 msec) in each discharge cell is divided into eight subfields SF1 to SF1. SF8). Each subfield SF1 to SF8 is further divided into a reset period, an address period and a sustain period, and 1: 2: 4: 8:... The weight is given at the ratio of 128. Here, the reset period is a period for initializing the discharge cells, the address period is a period during which selective address discharge occurs according to the logic value of the video data, and the sustain period is such that discharge is maintained in the discharge cells in which the address discharge has occurred. It is a period. The reset period and the address period are equally assigned to each subfield period.

In order to reduce the power consumption in the PDP, when the electrode widths of the scan electrodes 14 and the sustain electrodes 16 are formed to be narrow, the discharge path is shortened during discharge, thereby limiting the light emitting area. As a result, the amount of emitted ultraviolet rays decreases and the luminance decreases. In addition, when the electrode widths of the scan electrodes 14 and the sustain electrodes 16 are formed wide to increase the luminance of the PDP, the capacitance value increases, thereby increasing the discharge current and power consumption. In addition, in the conventional PDP, since the length of the opposing surface between the transparent electrodes 14A and 16A facing each other with a gap of a predetermined interval in one discharge cell is increased as shown in FIG. 3, black brightness is increased. Will rise. Here, in the reset period of the PDP, since the voltage supplied to the transparent electrodes 14A and 16A arranged in parallel is relatively low, the probability that the electrons in the discharge space are accelerated beyond the ionization energy is relatively low. The excitation of the neutral atoms is not active, and it affects the contrast ratio due to the slight emission of light generated during the transition of the neutral atoms from the excited state to the ground state at a relatively low electron density. Accordingly, in order to improve the contrast ratio, the black luminance must be reduced.

In order to reduce the power consumption and the black brightness of the conventional PDP, each of the sustain electrode pairs 114 and 116 of the other conventional PDP has a relatively wide width as shown in FIG. 4 and a transparent electrode material for visible light transmission. Stripe-shaped transparent electrodes 114A and 116A made of (ITO) have a relatively narrow width and include metal electrodes 114B and 116B to compensate for the high resistance components of the transparent electrodes 114A and 116A. The sustain electrode pairs 114 and 1166 and the partition wall 126 separating the adjacent discharge cells are provided.

Each of the transparent electrodes 114A and 116B overlaps the partition wall 126 in order to reduce the amount of current consumed by the sustain electrode pairs 114 and 1166, that is, the edge region of the discharge cell. The transparent electrode material ITO in the non-discharge region is removed. Accordingly, one side of each of the transparent electrodes 114A and 116B overlapping each of the metal electrodes 114B and 116B is connected in the electrode length direction of the upper substrate. On the other hand, the ends of each of the transparent electrodes 114A and 116B spaced apart from each other and face each other are not connected to each discharge cell. That is, since the transparent electrode material ITO at the portion overlapping the partition wall 126 is removed, each of the transparent electrodes 114A and 116B independently participates in the discharge for each discharge cell.

In the other conventional PDP, since a part of the transparent electrodes 114A and 116B overlapping the partition wall 126 is removed for each discharge cell, the opposite of the transparent electrodes 14A and 16A facing each other with a gap of a predetermined interval therebetween. The length W1 of the surface is reduced compared to the conventional transparent electrode shown in FIG. Accordingly, it is possible to improve the contrast ratio by reducing the black luminance. However, in the conventional PDP, since the transparent electrodes 114A and 116B are connected to the metal electrodes 114B and 116B, the foreign material B or the bubble C as shown in FIG. 5 when the transparent electrode material ITO is patterned. The transparent electrode material (ITO) is disconnected due to the phenomenon. Accordingly, the transparent electrode material (ITO), which is broken at the time of discharge, causes non-discharge as the discharge current is not supplied, thereby causing the cell bonding to appear black.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a PDP capable of preventing cell defects due to bubbles and foreign substances in the manufacturing process and improving contrast ratio.

In order to achieve the above object, a PDP according to an embodiment of the present invention is a stripe-shaped transparent electrodes, metal electrodes formed on the stripe-shaped transparent electrodes, and protruding transparent protruding from each of the transparent electrodes The electrodes may be formed inside the predetermined gaps at the ends of the protruding transparent electrodes to connect the protruding transparent electrodes.

The PDP further includes a metal electrode formed on each of the transparent electrodes, and a partition wall for separating the adjacent discharge cells.

In the PDP, the connection portion overlaps with the partition wall.

The connection part of the PDP is characterized in that formed on the inside of about 10㎛ ~ 200㎛ from the ends of the protruding transparent electrodes.

The connection part of the PDP may be formed to be biased to the ends of the protruding transparent electrodes.

Other objects and features of the present invention in addition to the above object will be apparent from the description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8.

Referring to FIG. 6, discharge cells of a plasma display panel (PDP) according to an embodiment of the present invention are sequentially formed on the upper substrate (not shown). ), An upper plate having an upper dielectric layer (not shown) and a protective film (not shown), an address electrode (not shown), a lower dielectric layer, a partition wall 226, and a phosphor layer (not shown) formed sequentially on the lower substrate. It has a bottom plate. Here, the upper substrate and the lower substrate are spaced in parallel by the partition wall.

Each of the sustain electrode pairs 214 and 216 has a stripe-shaped transparent electrode 214A and 216A, a protruding transparent electrode 214C and 216C projecting in a rectangular shape from the transparent electrodes 214A and 216A, and a relatively narrow electrode. In order to compensate for the resistance of the transparent electrodes 214A and 216A, the metal electrodes 214B and 216B formed on the stripe-shaped transparent electrodes 214A and 216A are connected to the adjacent protruding transparent electrodes 214C and 216C. It consists of a connecting portion 220 for. At this time, the transparent electrodes 214A and 216A of the sustain electrode pairs 214 and 216 face each other with a predetermined interval therebetween.

Each of the transparent electrodes 214A and 216A has a relatively wide width and is made of a transparent electrode material ITO for transmitting visible light.

Each of the metal electrodes 214B and 216B is positioned at both edges of the discharge cell and is formed of a highly conductive metal material such as silver (Ag) or copper (Cu).

Each of the protruding transparent electrodes 214C and 216C has a structure in which the transparent electrode material ITO at the portion overlapping the partition wall 226 is removed from the stripe-shaped transparent electrodes 214A and 216A. In other words, the removed transparent electrode material ITO is an edge region of the discharge cell in order to reduce the amount of current consumed by the sustain electrode pairs 214 and 216. ) Is removed.

For this reason, in the PDP according to the embodiment of the present invention, the length W1 of the opposing surface between the protruding transparent electrodes 214C and 216C facing each other with a gap of a predetermined interval in one discharge cell is shown in FIG. 7. As described above, black brightness is reduced because of the decrease in size. Here, in the reset period of the PDP, since the voltage supplied to the transparent electrodes 214A and 216A arranged in parallel is relatively low, the probability of electrons in the discharge space being accelerated beyond the ionization energy is relatively low. The excitation of the neutral atoms is not active, and it affects the contrast ratio due to the slight emission of light generated during the transition of the neutral atoms from the excited state to the ground state at a relatively low electron density.

The connection part 220 is formed to overlap the partition wall 226 at a predetermined interval at each end of each of the protruding transparent electrodes 214C and 216C to connect each of the protruding transparent electrodes 214C and 216C. That is, the connecting portion 220 is formed to protrude or protrude from about 10 μm to 200 μm toward the metal electrodes 214B and 216B at the end of the transparent electrode material ITO removed at an overlapping portion of the partition wall 226 in the adjacent discharge cell. It is formed at the ends of the transparent electrodes 214C, 216C. The connection part 220 is adjacent to the discharge cell even when the transparent electrode material (ITO) is disconnected by the foreign material (B) or bubble (C), etc., as shown in FIG. 8 during the patterning of the transparent electrode material (ITO) of the PDP. The paths of the discharge current are formed through the protruding transparent electrodes 214C and 216C.

The sustain electrode pairs 214 and 216 are composed of the scan electrode 214 and the sustain electrode 216. The scan signal for scanning the panel and the sustain signal for maintaining the discharge are mainly supplied to the scan electrode 214, and the sustain signal is mainly supplied to the sustain electrode 216. Charges accumulate in the upper and lower dielectric layers. The protective film prevents damage to the upper dielectric layer by sputtering, thereby extending the life of the PDP and increasing the emission efficiency of secondary electrons. Magnesium oxide (MgO) is usually used as a protective film. The address electrode is formed to cross the sustain electrode pairs 214 and 216. The address electrode is supplied with a data signal for selecting cells to be displayed. The partition wall 226 is formed in parallel with the address electrode to prevent the ultraviolet rays generated by the discharge from leaking to the adjacent cells. The phosphor layer is applied to the surface of the lower dielectric layer and the barrier rib 226 to generate visible light of any one of red, green, and blue. Then, an inert gas for gas discharge is injected into the discharge space therein.

As described above, in the PDP according to the embodiment of the present invention, the protruding transparent electrodes 214C and 216C protrude from the stripe-shaped transparent electrodes 214A and 216B in each discharge cell, as shown in FIG. 7. The length W1 of the opposing surface between the protruding transparent electrodes 214C and 216C facing each other with a gap of a predetermined interval is reduced than in the related art. Accordingly, the PDP according to the embodiment of the present invention can improve the contrast ratio because the black luminance is reduced.

In addition, the PDP according to an embodiment of the present invention is any one of the protruding transparent electrodes (214C, 216C) by the foreign material (B) or bubbles (C), etc. during the patterning of the transparent electrode material (ITO) of the PDP as shown in FIG. Even if is cut off, the discharge current is supplied through the other protruding transparent electrode (214C, 216C) of the adjacent protruding transparent electrode (214C, 216C) connected to each other by the connecting portion 220.

That is, the protruding transparent electrodes 214C and 216C which are disconnected due to cell defects due to foreign substances or bubbles during the manufacturing process of the PDP have a discharge current from the protruding transparent electrodes 214C and 216C of other discharge cells through the connecting portion 220. Supplied. Accordingly, the PDP according to the embodiment of the present invention prevents non-discharge due to cell defects generated during the manufacturing process by connecting each of the protruding transparent electrodes 214C and 216C formed in two adjacent discharge cells through the connecting portion 220. Done.

As described above, the PDP according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a connecting portion for connecting the protruding transparent electrode protruding from the stripe-shaped transparent electrode and the adjacent protruding transparent electrode. Accordingly, the present invention can reduce the black luminance to improve the contrast ratio. In addition, the present invention can prevent the non-discharge due to the cell failure by supplying the discharge current from the transparent electrode of the other discharge cell through the connecting portion even if the cell failure that the transparent electrode is broken due to foreign matter or bubbles during the manufacturing process of the PDP. have. On the other hand, the present invention can reduce the power consumption of the sustain electrode pair by removing the transparent electrode material overlapping the non-discharge region and the partition wall of the discharge cell. In addition, the present invention can prevent the discoloration of the glass substrate generated when the metal electrode is formed directly on the glass substrate by forming a metal electrode on the transparent electrode.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the detailed description of the specification but should be defined by the claims.

Claims (5)

Stripe-shaped transparent electrodes, Metal electrodes formed on the stripe-shaped transparent electrodes; Protruding transparent electrodes protruding from each of the transparent electrodes; A connection part formed inside the predetermined gap at ends of the protruding transparent electrodes to connect the protruding transparent electrodes; A partition wall separating adjacent discharge cells and overlapping the connection part; And the connection part is formed at about 10 μm to 200 μm from the ends of the protruding transparent electrodes. delete delete delete The method of claim 1, And the connection part is formed to be biased at ends of the protruding transparent electrodes.

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