High‐luminance and highly luminous‐efficient AC‐PDP with DelTA cell structure

To improve PDP performance, we developed an AC‐PDP with the Delta Tri‐Color Arrangement (DelTA) cell structure and arc‐shaped electrodes. The experimental panel has a pixel pitch of 1.08 mm and luminous efficacy of 3 lm/W at a luminance of 200 cd/m² despite its conventional gas mixture of Ne and Xe (4%) and conventional phosphor set. Moreover, its peak luminance can be greater than 1000 cd/m². The strong dependence of luminous efficacy on the sustain voltage is also discussed in this paper.     

Dependency of PDP efficacy on gas pressure

The dependency of the efficacy of an alternating‐current surface‐discharge plasma‐display panel (PDP) on the gas pressure was investigated for several Xe‐Ne gas mixtures. Also, the sustain voltage was varied. Monochrome 4‐in. test panels, with a design which resembles the one used in mainstream commercial products, were used. The experimental panel efficacy and emission characteristics were compared to the results of a numerical discharge model. A strong increase in the efficacy for increasing voltage was found in high‐gas‐pressure mixtures with a high Xe concentration. An increase in the electron‐heating efficiency and of the Xe‐excitation efficiency contribute, about equally, to the increase in efficacy. The increase in the Xe‐excitation efficiency is due to an increase in the excitation in the lower Xe levels induced by a lowering of the electron temperature. The contribution of the increasing Xe‐dimer radiation fraction to the efficacy improvement is relatively small. These results imply an efficient panel design comprised of the combination of a high Xe concentration, a high gas pressure, and a high sustain voltage. A high luminance and a high efficacy are concurrent for such a design. A 4‐in. test panel containing a mixture of 13.5% Xe in Ne at 800 hPa has been realized, demonstrating a white luminance of 2600 cd/m² and an efficacy of 3.1 lm/Wfor continuous operation at 50 kHz and 230 V.     

Inorganic EL devices with high‐performance blue phosphor and application to 34‐in. flat‐panel televisions

Abstract— A high‐performance inorganic electroluminescence (EL) device has been successfully developed by using an EL structure with a thick dielectric layer (TDEL) and sputtered BaAl₂S₄:Eu blue phosphor. The luminance and efficacy were higher than 2300 cd/m² and 2.5 lm/W at L⁶⁰, 120 Hz, respectively. Furthermore, the luminance at L⁶⁰, 1.2 kHz was more than 23,000 cd/m². The phosphor layer has a single‐phase and a highly oriented crystalline structure. The phosphor also shows high stability in air. A 34‐in. high‐definition television (HDTV) has been developed by combining a TDEL structure and color‐conversion materials. The panels with an optimized color filter demonstrated a peak luminance of 350 cd/m², a color gamut of more than 100% NTSC, and a wide viewing angle similar to that of plasma‐display panels. The high reproducibility of the 34‐in. panels using our pilot line has been confirmed.     

High‐efficiency PDP micro‐discharges

Abstract— High‐efficiency plasma‐display‐panel micro‐discharge characteristics will be discussed. An increase in the discharge efficiency for a higher‐Xe‐content gas mixture is well known. In this article, the interdependency of the capacitive design, the sustain voltage, and the Xe content will be discussed. A high panel efficacy was obtained, especially for the design and driving conditions that govern the development of a fast discharge. A fast discharge was observed for a higher discharge field at sustain voltages higher than 200 V. A +C‐buffer design, where the extra capacitance acts as a local on the panel power source that lowers the voltage decrease inherent to the discharge of the discharge capacitance upon firing, and efficient priming of the discharge at higher sustain frequency, also stimulates a fast‐discharge development. Apparently, a “high‐efficiency fast‐discharge mode” exists. It is proposed that in this mode the cathode sheath is not, or incompletely, formed during the increase in the discharge current, and the electric field in the discharge cell is dominated not by the space charges but by the externally applied voltage. The effective discharge field is lowered, resulting in a lower effective electron temperature and more efficient Xe excitation. Also, under a fast discharge build‐up condition, the electron‐heating efficiency increases, due to a decrease in the ion heating losses in the cathode sheath. In a 4‐in. color plasma‐display test panel, operating in a high‐efficiency discharge mode and containing a 50%Xe in Ne gas mixture, a panel efficacy of 5 lm/W concurrent with a luminance of 5000 cd/m² was realized. This result was obtained at a sustain voltage of 260 V. These data compare favorably with alternative high‐efficacy panel design approaches.     

Development of new high‐luminance green EL devices based on Eu‐doped calcium thioaluminate materials system

Abstract— A new green EL phosphor with excellent brightness, efficiency, and color saturation was developed. This phosphor is based on the europium‐activated calcium thioaluminate materials system. The performance of this phosphor is greatly enhanced by the addition of Gd as a co‐dopant. Similarly, the addition of ZnS layers on the top and bottom of the phosphor film improved the device luminance considerably. The luminance of the EL devices can be as high as 1700 cd/m² with CIE color coordinates (0.190, 0.645) which were tested by using 32‐μsec‐wide square pulses with a frequency of 120 Hz. The device efficiency was over 2 lm/W.     

Improvement of luminance and luminous efficacy in PDPs

Abstract— The dependence of PDP luminance and efficacy on the input power was investigated for several Xe‐Ne gas mixtures. The input power was varied in two ways: namely, by changing the dielectric‐layer capacitance (thickness) and by changing the sustain voltage. A distinctly different behavior was found; for increasing capacitance the efficacy decreases markedly, whereas for increasing sustain voltage the efficacy increases. A design window comprising the combination of a high Xe concentration and a high sustain voltage was suggested. In this window, a high luminance and a high efficacy are concurrent. A 4‐in. test panel with 10% Xe in Ne has been realized showing a white luminance of 2040 cd/m² and an efficacy of 2.3 lm/W for continuous sustaining at 50 kHz with a sustain voltage of 225 V.     

Implications of microcavity plasma devices for new plasma‐display‐panel cell structures with improved luminosity

Abstract— The unique properties of microcavity plasma devices, and their potential to provide the basis for alternative PDP cell structures of improved luminosity, are described. Arrays as large as 500 × 500 (250,000) inverted pyramid microcavity devices, each with an emitting aperture of 50 × 50 μm² and designed for AC or bipolar excitation, have been fabricated in Si and operated in the rare gases and Ar/N₂ mixtures at pressures up to and beyond 1 atm. For a device pitch of 100 μm, the array filling factor is 25% and the device packing density is 10⁴ cm^?2. Measurements of the unoptimized radiant output of 500 × 500 arrays of Si microplasma devices, operating in Ne/(5–50)% Xe mixtures and photoexciting (in transmission mode) a 20‐μm‐thick film of green phosphor, yield values of the luminous efficacy up to 7.2 ± 0.6 lm/W for a Ne/50% Xe mixture (total pressure of 800 Torr) excited by a 20‐kHz sinusoidal voltage waveform. Sustaining voltages ranging from ～250 to 340 V (RMS) yield luminance values up to ～2000 cd/m² for Ne/50% Xe mixtures but the incorporation of field emitters or MgO into the microcavity is expected to significantly reduce the required operating voltage. Also, the fabrication of microplasma devices in ceramic multilayer structures or glass for scaling the display area is discussed briefly. Recent laser spectroscopic measurements of Xe(a ³Σ_u⁺) absorption in the visible and near‐infrared suggest steps to be taken in PDP cell design, particularly as the Xe content in Ne/Xe mixtures is increased.     

High luminance and luminance efficiency in PDPs driven by radio‐frequency pulses

Abstract— Conventional AC‐PDPs has a relatively low efficiency which is close to 1.5 lm/W. Only 15–20% of the supplied energy is consumed by the Xe excitation, and 60% of energy is consumed by ion heating. If the ac sustain period is replaced by a rf sustain period, due to the oscillating and low electric field, almost 60% of the supplied energy is spent in Xe excitation while only 20% is used up in ion heating. In this paper, we show a new hybrid‐type PDP; the plasma is formed by ac writing pulses, and then it can be sustained due to rf sustaining pulses. When 40‐MHz frequency pulses were applied to the panel during the rf sustain period, the luminance was 1500–2000 cd/m² in a Ne‐Xe composition at 200–400 Torr. The luminance efficiency was around 4 lm/W.     

High‐Xe‐content high‐efficacy PDPs

Abstract— The trade‐off between PDP efficacy improvement and driving voltages was investigated for several design factors. It was found that for a proper combination of an increased Xe content, cell design, and the use of a TiO₂ layer combined with “non‐saturating” phosphors, a large increase in both efficacy and luminance can be realized at moderately increased drive voltages. In a 4‐in. color test panel, a white efficacy of 5 lm/W and a luminance of 5000 cd/m² was obtained for sustaining at 260 V in addressed condition.     

High‐efficacy drive of spatial positive‐column‐discharge PDP with delayed D pulses

Abstract— A thick‐film ceramic‐sheet PDP provides a long sustain discharge gap of 0.45 mm, enabling the use of positive column discharges. The discharges are established in the middle of the discharge space and are completely free from touching the surface of substrates. This allows for the reduction in diffusion losses of the charged particles. To further improve the efficacy, delayed D pulses are applied to the address electrodes during the sustain period. Although the pulses only draw a little current, they perturb the electric field, reducing the peak discharge current and hence resulting in higher efficacy and luminance. The efficacy and luminance increase by 35% and 38%, respectively, with the delayed D pulses. These pulses are incorporated into the contiguous‐subfield erase‐addressing drive scheme for TV application. A short gap of 70 μm between the sustain and data electrodes generates a fast‐rising discharge and allows a high‐speed addressing of 0.25 μsec. This provides 18 contiguous subfields for the full‐HD single‐scan mode, with 70% light emission duty. A luminous efficacy of 6.0 lm/W can been attained using Ne + 30% Xe 47 kPa, a sustain voltage of 320 V, and a sustain frequency of 3.3 kHz, when the luminance is 157 cd/m². Alternatively, the panel can achieve 4.2 lm/W and 1260 cd/m² by increasing the sustain frequency to 33 kHz.     

High‐performance white OLEDs with high color‐rendering index for next‐generation solid‐state lighting

Abstract— Several white‐OLED structures with a high color‐rendering index (CRI) were investigated for lighting applications. A two‐unit fluorescent/phosphorescent hybrid white OLED achieved an excellent CRI of 95, high luminous efficacy of 37 lm/W, and long lifetime of over 40,000 hours at 1000 cd/m². White‐OLED lighting panels of 8 × 8 cm for high‐luminance operation were fabricated, and a stable emission at 3000 cd/m² was confirmed. Quite a small variation in chromaticity in a different directions was achieved by using an optimized optical device structure. With a light‐outcoupling substrate, a higher efficacy of 56 lm/W, high CRI of 91, and longer half‐decay lifetime of over 150,000 hours at 1000 cd/m² was achieved. All‐phosphorescent white OLEDs placed on the light‐outcoupling substrate show a high CRI of 85 and higher efficacy of 65 lm/W with a fairly good half‐decay lifetime of over 30,000 hours. With a further voltage reduction and a high‐index spherical extractor, 128 lm/W at 1000 cd/m² has been achieved.     

Influence of He‐Ne‐Xe gas composition on vacuum ultraviolet ray spectra in plasma‐display panels

The vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) ray emission characteristics for plasma‐display panels (PDPs) were studied with respect to various three‐component (He‐Ne‐Xe) and two‐component (He‐Xe and Ne‐Xe) gas systems. In the 4% Xe‐25% Ne‐He balance and 4% Xe‐He balance, an increase in the pressure contributed to an increase in the 147‐nm atomic emission, and above a certain point this decreased, while in the 4% Xe‐Ne balance it was saturated. The 172‐nm dimer emission showed a nearly linear increasing behavior with pressure and Xe content irrespective of its composition. In the various Xe with 25% Ne‐He balance gases, it was shown that total integrated VUV intensity can directly represent the luminance of real panels with the same gas compositions. Xe‐content variation showed similar characteristics of VUV emission as pressure variation both in two‐component (various Xe‐Ne balance) and three‐component (various Xe‐25% Ne‐He balance) systems. Therefore, different compositions with the same Xe partial pressure showed nearly the same optical properties. For the case of Ne content variation with 4% Xe, the 147‐nm peak increased and the 172‐nm peak decreased to 85% Ne, but above this point both intensities decreased.     

High‐luminance and luminous‐efficacy mercury‐free flat fluorescent lamp (MFFL) with local‐dimming functionality

Abstract— In order to realize high‐luminance and luminous‐efficacy mercury‐free flat fluorescent lamps (MFFLs) for LCD backlighting, the phosphor profile was optimized to enlarge the surface area. The proposed uneven profile of the rear phosphor increases the effective surface area of the phosphor, resulting in a wide luminance range from 3000 to 16,788 cd/m² with a corresponding high luminous efficacy from 66 to 34.7 lm/W, respectively. Also, a dynamic operation method for an adaptive local‐dimming and scanning operation is proposed which can be used in a 32‐in. multi‐structured configuration having one inverter system. With the deployment of the bipolar drive scheme and dual auxiliary electrodes, a stable and selective diffuse glow discharge with high luminance is possible.     

Reduction of defects and improvement in the performance of blue phosphor for thick‐dielectric electroluminescent displays using Color‐by‐Blue

Abstract— Defect‐free large‐area inorganic thick‐dielectric EL (TDEL) displays using Color by Blue (CBB) technology have been successfully developed. We have achieved the world's highest blue‐phosphor luminance of 900 cd/m² for a single‐pixel device by using CBB and by optimizing the e‐beam gun configuration and the flow rate of H₂S in the vacuum chamber. By analyzing the defects on panels with triple‐pattern phosphors and CBB panels, we also found that the number of defects on CBB panels can be drastically reduced compared with those on triple‐pattern panels. The defect‐free 17‐in. VGA CBB panels show better characteristics, a high peak luminance of 600 cd/m² and a high contrast ratio of 1000:1, compared with those of triple‐pattern panels.     

OLED‐based pico‐projection system

Abstract— Two pico‐projection systems, a monochrome green and a full‐color system, based on high‐efficiency OLED microdisplays (VGA; pixel size, 12 μm) are presented. Both optical systems are described by a numerical aperture of about 0.3, a magnification of 15x, and a working distance of 300–360 mm. The frequency limit of both systems is 42 cycles/mm at an image contrast of about 60%. The monochrome projection system with a volume smaller than 10 cm³ consists of one green OLED and a projection lens with five elements. The measured luminance in the image plane is about 0.061 lm. The image has a diagonal of 150 mm with a working distance of about 300 mm and has a considerable image contrast of 396:1. The second system combines three high‐brightness OLEDs, red, green, and blue colored, together with a projection lens and an image‐combining element, and an X‐Cube to achieve full‐color projection. The estimated luminance value for the three‐panel projection unit with an OLED luminance of 10,000 cd/m² for each display will be about Φcalculated = 0.147 lm. In this paper, the system concepts, the optical designs, and the realized prototypes of the monochrome and full‐color projection system are presented.     

New high‐luminance 50‐ and 43‐in. ACPDPs with an improved panel structure

New 50‐ and 43‐in. ACPDPs, which have been developed and commercialized in 2001, show high luminance with improved cell structure and higher Xe‐content gas. The specific features of the cell structure are “T”‐shaped electrodes and waffle‐structured ribs, which are same as those of the previous model. Both the cell structure and gas conditions have been optimized. New green and blue phosphors have also been adopted. As a result, the luminous efficacy has been improved up to 1.8 lm/W by using a black stripe. The peak luminance of the 50‐ and 43‐in. PDPs have reached 900 and 1000 cd/m², respectively, while the power consumption of the 50‐in. PDP has been decreased to 380 W, which is 20% lower than that of our previous 50‐in. PDP.     

Time‐averaged spatial profile of Xe excitation efficiency in PDPs

Abstract— The Xe excitation efficiency for various Xe content was analyzed by monitoring the panel luminance and IR emission intensity. It was found that dependences of the Xe excitation efficiency and luminous efficacy on the sustain voltage show almost the same tendency. A decrease for increasing sustaining voltage was found in a low‐Xe‐content panel and an increase was found in a high‐Xe‐content panel. A reduction in the effective electron temperature and a reduction in plasma saturation contribute to the efficacy improvement. The time‐averaged spatial profile of the Xe excitation efficiency in PDPs was investigated by measuring the distribution of IR and blue‐phosphor emissions. The results show that the Xe excitation efficiency is similar in the cathode and anode regions even though the spatial and time development of the discharge in these regions is very different. An extended theory that takes into account not only the radiative transition process but also the collisional de‐excitation process from Xe** to Xe* is proposed for investigating the pressure dependence of the Xe excitation efficiency. By using the proposed theory, it was found that Xe excitation efficiency increases, attains a maximum value at 30% Xe, then decreases as the Xe content is increased, when the rate coefficient of the collisional de‐excitation process is less than 1.0 × 10^?10 cm³/sec.     

LCD backlights: with or without Hg?

High luminance and efficacy vs. temperature independence and environmental protection: these are the determining factors for the choice of Hg or Xe for LCD backlights. A capacity‐coupled cylindrical Hg discharge lamp attains a luminance of 114,000 cd/m² and an efficacy of 35 lm/W when driven at 5 MHz. On the other hand, a mercury‐free Xe flat discharge backlight produces 11,000 cd/m² and 30 lm/W, with fast luminance response. This paper discusses the underlying limitations assessed to the Hg and Xe backlights, considering application to LC TVs.     

Fluorescent‐based tandem white OLEDs designed for display and solid‐state‐lighting applications

Abstract— Highly efficient tandem white OLEDs based on fluorescent materials were developed for display and solid‐state‐lighting (SSL) applications. In both cases, the white OLED must have high power efficiency and long lifetime, but there are a number of attributes unique to each application that also must be considered. Tandem OLED technology has been demonstrated as an effective approach to increase luminance, extend OLED lifetime, and allow for use of different emitters in the individual stacks for tuning the emission spectrum to achieve desired performance. Here, examples of bottom‐emission tandem white OLEDs based on small‐molecule fluorescent emitters designed for displays and for SSL applications are reported. A two‐stack tandem white OLED designed for display applications achieved 36.5‐cd/A luminance efficiency, 8500K color temperature, and lifetime estimated to exceed 50,000 hours at 1000 cd/m². This performance is expected to meet the specifications for large AMOLED displays. A two‐stack tandem white OLED designed for SSL applications achieved 20‐lm/W power efficiency, 38‐cd/A luminance efficiency, 3500K color temperature, and lifetime estimated to exceed 140,000 hours at 1000 cd/m². With the use of proven light‐extraction techniques, it is estimated that this tandem device will exceed 40 lm/W with more than 500,000‐hour lifetime, performance that should be sufficient for first‐generation lighting products.     

Electron‐beam deposition of MgO on plastic substrate and manufacturing flexible flat fluorescent lamp

Abstract— A flexible fluorescent lamp that utilizes the same plasma discharge mode as in PDPs has been manufactured. The structure of the flexible lamp is simple and easy to manufacture. All‐plastic materials including plastic substrates, barrier ribs (spacers), and sealants for low‐temperature manufacturing processing have been adopted except for the phosphor and MgO thin film. The MgO thin films were coated on the plastic substrates as a protection layer against the plasma discharge. The adhesion and biaxial texture of MgO thin film deposited on the plastic substrates, poly‐ethyle‐nenaphthalate (PEN) and polycarbonate (PC), at low temperature (100–180°C) has been characterized. The MgO film on PEN shows good adhesion under a repeated bending test. The manufactured flexible lamp consists of two plastic substrates of about 3 in. on the diagonal, barrier rib (spacer), and external ITO electrodes. The Ne‐Xe (5%) gas mixture at 100–200 Torr was used for the discharge gas. A maximum surface luminance of about 100 cd/m² was achieved for a 1 ‐kHz AC pulse.