KR20060001541A - Plasma display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plasma display panel having an electrode structure that is advantageous for realizing a higher density, high luminance display.

According to the present invention, a plasma display panel includes: a first substrate and a second substrate disposed to face each other; Address electrodes formed on the first substrate in parallel with one direction; A plurality of discharge cells are included in the space between the first substrate and the second substrate, the first partition members disposed in a direction parallel to the address electrode, and the second partition members disposed in a direction crossing the address electrode. Partition wall; An auxiliary barrier member disposed side by side with the second barrier members between a pair of second barrier members adjacent to each other; Phosphor layers formed in the discharge cells; First electrodes formed between the first substrate and the second substrate so as to be elongated in parallel with the second partition members constituting the discharge cells; And second electrodes corresponding to the auxiliary partition wall member so as to extend in parallel with the auxiliary partition wall member and pass through the discharge cell inner space across the first partition wall member.

Plasma, Display, Counter Discharge, Front Panel Bulkhead, Auxiliary Bulkhead Member

Description

Plasma Display Panel {PLASMA DISPLAY PANEL}

1 is a graph schematically showing a voltage distribution between a cathode and an anode in a typical glow discharge.

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

3 is a partial plan view schematically illustrating a structure of an electrode and a discharge cell in a plasma display panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line A-A with the plasma display panel shown in FIG.

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 advantageous for realizing a high density and high luminance display.

In general, a plasma display panel (hereinafter referred to as a 'PDP') is used to implement an image using visible light generated by a vacuum ultraviolet ray (VUV) emitted from a plasma obtained through gas discharge. Display element. Such a PDP can realize an ultra-large screen of 60 inches or more with a thickness of only 10 cm or less, and is a self-luminous display device such as a CRT. In addition, the manufacturing method is simpler than LCD, and thus has advantages in terms of productivity and cost.

The structure of the PDP has been developed for a long time since the 1970s, and the structure generally known is a three-electrode surface discharge type structure. The three-electrode surface discharge type structure consists of one substrate including two electrodes located on the same surface and another substrate including address electrodes vertically spaced apart from each other at a predetermined distance therebetween, with a discharge gas enclosed therebetween. Structure. In general, the presence or absence of the discharge is determined by the discharge of the address electrode facing the scan electrode independently connected to each line, and the sustain discharge indicating the luminance is performed by two electrode groups located on the same plane. .

PDP uses a glow discharge to make visible light visible to humans, which takes several steps to reach the human eye after the glow discharge occurs. That is, when a glow discharge occurs, an excited gas is generated by collision between electrons and gases, and ultraviolet rays are generated from the excited gas. Ultraviolet rays collide with the phosphor in the discharge cell to generate visible light, and the visible light passes through the transparent substrate on the front surface and reaches the human eye. This step results in a significant loss of input power.

Glow discharges are usually obtained by applying a voltage above the discharge start voltage between two electrodes under a low atmospheric pressure (<1 atm). The discharge start voltage is a function of the type of gas, the atmospheric pressure, and the distance between electrodes. In the case of AC discharge, in addition to these three, the capacitance of the dielectric (dielectric constant, electrode area, dielectric thickness) and the frequency of the applied voltage affect the discharge start voltage.

In order to start the discharge, a very high voltage is required, but once the discharge occurs, the voltage distribution between the cathode and the anode is distorted as shown in FIG. 1 due to the difference in the space charge generated around the cathode and the anode. FIG. 1 shows that most of the voltage is being consumed around two electrodes, that is, in areas called cathode sheath and anode sheath, and in the relatively positive column region. It can be seen that the amount of voltage is small. In particular, the glow discharge generated in the PDP is known that the voltage consumed in the cathode sheath is much higher than the voltage of the anode sheath.

The emission of visible light in the phosphor is caused by the collision of the ultraviolet light with the phosphor, and the ultraviolet light is generated when the energy level is changed from the excited state of Xen to the ground state of Xen. . On the other hand, xenon Xe in an excited state is made by collision between Xen in stable state and electrons. Therefore, in order to increase the ratio of generating visible light among the input energy, that is, the luminous efficiency, the electron heating efficiency must be increased.

In general, since the electron heating efficiency in the positive column region is higher than the electron heating efficiency in the cathode sheath region, the improvement of the PDP luminous efficiency is possible by increasing the positive column region. Since the sheath region has almost the same thickness under the same pressure, it is necessary to increase the length of the discharge in order to increase the luminous efficiency.

In the case of a PDP having a three-electrode structure, discharge is initiated in the region between the two electrodes closest to the center of the discharge cell, after which the discharge moves to the edge region of the electrode. The discharge occurs in the center region because the discharge start voltage in this region is low. In general, the discharge start voltage is a function of the product of the pressure and the distance between the electrodes, and the PDP operating region is located to the right of the minimum value of the Paschen curve. Once the discharge is initiated, the discharge is maintained under a voltage much lower than the discharge start voltage due to the formation of space charge, and the voltage between the two electrodes gradually decreases with time. After the start of the discharge, the intensity of the electric field is weakened as ions and electrons accumulate in the central region, and the discharge disappears in this region.

Cathode and anode spots move over time in areas free of surface charge, ie around the electrode edges. At this time, since the voltage applied between the two electrodes decreases with time, strong discharge occurs in the center region of the discharge cell (low light emitting efficiency), and weak discharge occurs near the edge of the discharge cell (high light emitting efficiency). . Based on the same principle, the conventional three-electrode surface discharge structure has a low ratio used for heating electrons among the input energy, resulting in low luminous efficiency.

In order to overcome the weakness of the three-electrode structure, a method of increasing the distance between the display electrodes may be considered, but this causes an increase in the discharge start voltage.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, the plasma display panel to increase the luminous efficiency while lowering the discharge start voltage by shortening the distance between the electrodes involved in the sustain discharge while inducing the sustain discharge to the opposite discharge To provide.

Plasma display panel according to the present invention,

A first substrate and a second substrate disposed to face each other;

Address electrodes formed on the first substrate in parallel with one direction;

A plurality of discharge cells are included in the space between the first substrate and the second substrate, the first partition members disposed in a direction parallel to the address electrode, and the second partition members disposed in a direction crossing the address electrode. Partition wall;

An auxiliary barrier member disposed side by side with the second barrier members between a pair of second barrier members adjacent to each other;

Phosphor layers formed in the discharge cells;

First electrodes formed between the first substrate and the second substrate so as to be elongated in parallel with the second partition members constituting the discharge cells; And

And second electrodes extending in parallel with the auxiliary partition wall member in a direction parallel to the auxiliary partition wall member and passing through the discharge cell inner space across the first partition wall member.

The phosphor layer is also preferably formed on the side of the auxiliary partition member.

Each of the first electrodes has an outer surface surrounded by a dielectric layer, and cross-sections perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the first electrodes and the second partition members corresponding to the first electrodes have substantially the same symmetric center line.

Preferably, the first electrodes have a length in a direction perpendicular to the substrate longer than a length in a direction parallel to the substrate in a vertical cross section with respect to the longitudinal direction thereof.

The first electrodes have a MgO passivation layer on at least side surfaces facing the inner spaces of the discharge cells.

Each of the second electrodes may have an outer surface surrounded by a dielectric layer, and cross-sections perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the second electrodes and the auxiliary partition members corresponding thereto may have substantially the same symmetric center line.

It is preferable that the second electrodes have a length in a direction perpendicular to the substrate longer than a length in a direction parallel to the substrate in a cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction thereof.

The second electrodes have an MgO passivation layer formed around at least an outer surface exposed to an inner space of the discharge cell, and the MgO passivation layer has visible light impermeability.

The second electrodes may be formed to penetrate the first partition member.

The second substrate is formed with a third partition member projecting toward the first substrate in a shape corresponding to the first partition member, and protruding toward the first substrate in a shape corresponding to the second partition member. A fourth partition member is formed.

The first electrode is positioned between the corresponding second partition member and the fourth partition member, and the second electrode is positioned between the auxiliary partition member and the third partition member that cross each other.

The phosphor layer is formed in an area of the second substrate partitioned by the third partition member and the fourth partition member.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention. As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. In the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted in order to clearly describe the present invention, and like reference numerals designate like elements throughout the specification.

2 is a partially exploded perspective view illustrating a plasma display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a partial plan view schematically showing the structure of an electrode and a discharge cell in the plasma display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line AA of the plasma display panel shown in FIG.

Referring to the drawings, the PDP according to the present embodiment basically includes a first substrate 10 (hereinafter referred to as a 'back substrate') and a second substrate 20 (hereinafter referred to as a 'front substrate'). Are disposed to face each other at predetermined intervals, and the discharge cells 18 are partitioned into partitions 16 and 26 in the space between the rear substrate 10 and the front substrate 20.

In the discharge cell 18, phosphor layers 19 and 29, which absorb ultraviolet rays and emit visible light, are formed along the partition walls and the bottom surface, and discharge gases (for example, xenon and neon) to cause plasma discharge. (Mixed gas including Ne) and the like.

Address electrodes 12 are formed on one surface of the rear substrate 10 opposite to the front substrate 20 in one direction (y-axis direction of the drawing), and cover the address electrodes 12 to cover the rear substrate 10. The dielectric layer 14 is formed all over the inner surface. The address electrodes 12 are arranged in parallel with each other while maintaining a distance (x-axis direction) corresponding to the other address electrodes 12 and the discharge cells 18.

The partition walls 16 and 26 protrude toward the rear substrate 10 adjacent to the rear substrate 10 and protrude toward the rear substrate 10 adjacent to the rear substrate 10. It consists of a front plate partition wall 26.

The back plate partition wall 16 is formed on the dielectric layer 14 formed on the back substrate 10. In the present embodiment, the back plate partition wall 16 is arranged in a direction parallel to the address electrode 12. And a second partition member 16b formed to intersect the first partition member 16a and partitioning each discharge cell 18 into an independent discharge space. The front plate partition wall 26 may include a third partition member 26a having a shape corresponding to the first partition member 16a and a fourth partition member having a shape corresponding to the second partition member 16b. 26b). Accordingly, the third partition wall member 26a and the fourth partition wall member 26b are formed in the direction crossing each other to form a region 28 corresponding to each discharge cell 18 on the front substrate 20.

In addition, the auxiliary partition wall member 17 is disposed side by side between the pair of second partition wall members 16b adjacent to each other. That is, the second partition member 16b and the auxiliary partition member 17 are alternately disposed along the length direction (y axis direction) of the address electrode 12. Therefore, the auxiliary partition wall member 17 divides the back substrate 10 side of the discharge cell 18 into two regions 18a and 18b.

On the other hand, between the rear substrate 10 and the front substrate 20, corresponding to the second partition member (16b) constituting one side of each discharge cell 18 in parallel with this direction (x-axis direction in the drawing) Along the first electrode 31 is formed long. In this embodiment, since the first electrodes 31 correspond to each of the second partition members 16b one by one and are disposed to pass over the second partition members 16b, the length direction of the address electrode 12 (Fig. It can be a reference to distinguish the adjacent discharge cells 18 in the y-axis direction.

In addition, a second electrode 32 is disposed between each of the pair of first electrodes 31 and 31 adjacent to each other. That is, the second electrode 32 is formed to extend along the direction (x-axis direction in the drawing) parallel to the corresponding to the auxiliary partition member 17 disposed between the second partition member (16b). The second electrodes 32 are formed to pass through the discharge cell 18 across the first partition member 16a.

In this case, the second electrode 32 plays a role of selecting the discharge cells 18 to be turned on by participating in the discharge of the address section together with the address electrode 12, and the first electrodes 31 and 31 are connected to the second electrode. Together with the electrode 32 serves to display the screen by participating in the discharge of the holding section. However, since the electrodes may have different roles depending on the signal voltage applied thereto, the present invention does not need to be limited to the above.

Referring to FIG. 3, each of the discharge cells 18 is divided into two regions 18a and 18b by the auxiliary partition member 17 and the second electrode 32, and each of the regions 18a in the discharge sustaining section. , A sustain discharge occurs between the first electrodes 31 and 31 and the second electrode 32 corresponding to 18b. That is, since the sustain discharge is caused between the second electrode 32 crossing the discharge cell 18 and the pair of first electrodes 31 and 31 arranged at both sides, the electrodes involved in the discharge holding are discharge cells. (18) The discharge gap between the two electrodes causing the discharge is reduced by almost half than that adjacent to the edges, respectively, and therefore driving can be performed even at a low discharge start voltage.

Referring to FIG. 4, in the present embodiment, the pair of first electrodes 31 and the second partition wall members 16b corresponding to the pair of first electrodes 31 are cut in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction (the x-axis direction of the drawing). Each cross section has substantially the same symmetric centerline L. In this way, the first electrodes 31 can be engaged with the pair of discharge cells 18 adjacent to each other in the direction parallel to the address electrode 12 (x-axis direction). Each of the cross-sections of the second electrodes 32 and the auxiliary partition wall members 17 corresponding to the second electrodes 32 and the sub-barrier members 17, respectively, has a substantially identical symmetric center line L. . In this way, the second electrodes 32 can participate in the two regions 18a and 18b of one discharge cell 18.

Further, in the present embodiment, the first electrodes 31 have a cross section cut in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and are perpendicular to the substrate 10 and 20 planes rather than the length w1 in a direction parallel to the substrate 10 and 20 planes. The length h1 in one direction may be longer, and the second electrode 32 may have a cross section cut in a plane perpendicular to the length direction than the length w2 in a direction parallel to the substrate surface. The length h2 in the vertical direction may be longer. Therefore, the opposite discharge can be induced more easily between the first and second electrodes 31 and 32, thereby obtaining a high luminous efficiency.

Meanwhile, each of the first electrodes 31 and the second electrodes 32 is surrounded by dielectric layers 34 and 35 on its outer surface. These first and second electrodes 31 and 32 may be manufactured by a thick film ceramic sheet (TFCS) method. That is, the electrode unit including the first electrode 31 and the second electrode 32 may be separately manufactured, and then coupled to the rear substrate 10 having the partition wall 16 formed thereon. At this time, the electrode is coated with a ceramic (ceramic).

An MgO passivation layer 36 may be formed on the surfaces of the dielectric layers 34 and 35 respectively covering the first electrode 31 and the second electrode 32. In particular, the MgO passivation layer 36 may be formed in a portion exposed to the plasma discharge occurring in the discharge space inside the discharge cell 18. In the present embodiment, since the first electrode 31 and the second electrode 32 are not formed on the front substrate 20, the dielectric layers 34 and 35 covering the first and second electrodes 31 and 32 may be used. The MgO protective film 36 applied to the film may be made of MgO having visible light impermeability. This visible light-transmissive MgO has a much higher secondary electron emission coefficient value than the visible light-transmissive MgO, and thus the discharge start voltage can be further lowered.

The second electrode 32 of the present embodiment is formed in correspondence with the auxiliary partition wall member 17, so that it is supported in a stable structure in the discharge cell 18, and the bottom surface of the address electrode 12 and the second electrode 32 are also supported. The address discharge is prevented from occurring and is generated between the side of the second electrode 32 and the address electrode 12.

As described above, the first electrode 31 having the dielectric layer 34 and the MgO passivation layer 36 is formed between the second and fourth partition members 16b and 26b corresponding to each other. Are located side by side with (16b, 26b). However, the second electrode 32 having the dielectric layer 35 and the MgO passivation layer 36 may be parallel to the auxiliary partition wall member 17 between the auxiliary partition wall member 17 and the third partition wall member 26a that cross each other. It is positioned to intersect with the partition wall members 26a.

In particular, in order to form the second electrode 32 and the auxiliary partition wall member 17, a groove is formed in a part of the first partition wall member 16a, and the second electrode on which the dielectric layer 35 and the MgO passivation layer 36 are coated. It is also possible to fabricate (32) in the groove on the auxiliary partition member 17. In this case, the second electrode 32 and the first electrode 31 may be formed to have the same distance measured from the back substrate 10, and the dielectric layer 35 surrounding the second electrode 32. An upper end surface of the first barrier rib member 16a may be formed to substantially coincide with an upper end surface of the first partition member 16a. The second electrode 32 may be formed to penetrate the first partition member 16a.

The first electrode 31 and the second electrode 32 is preferably made of a metal electrode having excellent electrical conductivity.

On the other hand, the phosphor layer 29 is formed in the region 28 of the front substrate 20 partitioned by the third partition member 26a and the fourth partition member 26b formed adjacent to the front substrate 20. Can be. The phosphor layer 29 may apply a dielectric layer on the front substrate 20, form a front plate partition 26, and then apply a phosphor layer on the dielectric layer, and selectively apply the dielectric layer to the front substrate 20. Instead, the front plate partition wall 26 may be formed on the front substrate 20 to apply a phosphor layer. Furthermore, the front substrate 20 may be etched to conform to the shape of the discharge cell 18 and then a phosphor layer may be applied thereon. At this time, the front plate partition 26 is made of the same material as the front substrate 20.

In the above case, the phosphor layer 29 formed on the front substrate 20 is used to generate visible light by absorbing vacuum ultraviolet rays (VUV) directed toward the front substrate 20 after the discharge is generated in the discharge cell 18. The phosphor layer 29 needs to be able to transmit visible light. For this purpose, the phosphor layer 29 may be formed on the front substrate 20 to have a thickness thinner than that of the phosphor layer 19 formed on the rear substrate 10. have.

In this way, the luminous efficiency can be improved by minimizing the loss of vacuum ultraviolet rays.

In addition, the present embodiment further includes an auxiliary partition member 17 on the rear substrate 10, and the phosphor layer 19 is formed on the side surface of the auxiliary partition member 17 so that vacuum ultraviolet rays collide with each other to generate visible light. The area of the phosphor layer 19 may be further increased.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications or changes can be made within the scope of the claims and the detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings. It goes without saying that it belongs to the scope of the present invention.

As described above, according to the plasma display panel according to the present invention, the sustain discharge is induced to the opposite discharge, the interval between the electrodes involved in the sustain discharge is reduced, the discharge start voltage is lowered, and the sustain discharge is discharged at the two discharge cells. It has the effect of raising the luminous efficiency.

Claims (15)

A first substrate and a second substrate disposed to face each other; Address electrodes formed on the first substrate in parallel with one direction; A plurality of discharge cells are included in the space between the first substrate and the second substrate, the first partition members disposed in a direction parallel to the address electrode, and the second partition members disposed in a direction crossing the address electrode. Partition wall; An auxiliary barrier member disposed side by side with the second barrier members between a pair of second barrier members adjacent to each other; Phosphor layers formed in the discharge cells; First electrodes formed between the first substrate and the second substrate so as to be elongated in parallel with the second partition members constituting the discharge cells; And And second electrodes formed to extend in parallel with the auxiliary partition wall member and to pass through the discharge cell internal space across the first partition wall member. The method of claim 1, And the auxiliary barrier rib member includes a phosphor layer on a side thereof. The method of claim 1, Each of the first electrodes has an outer surface surrounded by a dielectric layer. The method of claim 1, And cross-sections perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the first electrodes and the second partition members corresponding to the first electrodes and the second partition members, respectively, having substantially the same symmetric center line. The method of claim 1, And the first electrodes have a length in a direction perpendicular to the substrate longer than a length in a direction parallel to the substrate in a vertical cross section with respect to the length direction thereof. The method of claim 1, And at least one MgO passivation layer on a side surface of the first electrodes facing at least one inner space of each of the discharge cells. The method of claim 1, Each of the second electrodes has an outer surface surrounded by a dielectric layer. The method of claim 1, And cross-sections perpendicular to the length direction of the second electrodes and the auxiliary partition wall members corresponding to the second electrodes and the auxiliary electrodes. The method of claim 1, And the second electrodes have a length in a direction perpendicular to the substrate longer than a length in a direction parallel to the substrate in a cross section perpendicular to the length direction thereof. The method of claim 1, And the second electrodes have an MgO passivation layer formed on at least an outer surface exposed to an inner space of the discharge cell. The method of claim 6 or 10, The MgO passivation layer has a visible light impermeability. The method of claim 1, The second electrodes are formed through the first partition member. The method of claim 1, The second substrate is formed with a third partition member projecting toward the first substrate in a shape corresponding to the first partition member, and protruding toward the first substrate in a shape corresponding to the second partition member. And a fourth partition member which is formed. The method of claim 13, And the first electrode is positioned between the corresponding second partition member and the fourth partition member, and the second electrode is positioned between the auxiliary partition member and the third partition member that cross each other. The method of claim 1, And a phosphor layer formed in an area of the second substrate partitioned by the third and fourth partition members.

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