Analysis of transient electron energy in a micro dielectric barrier discharge for a high performance plasma display panel

We present here analysis of electron energy of a micro dielectric barrier discharge (micro-DBD) for alternating-current plasma display panel (ac-PDP) with Ne/Xe gas mixture by using the optical emission spectroscopy (OES). The OES method is quite useful to evaluate a variety of electron energy in a high pressure DBD ignited in a PDP small cell. Experiment shows that the ratio of Ne emission intensity (I-Ne) relative to Xe emission intensity (I-Xe) drastically decreases with time. This temporal profile is well consistent with dynamic behavior of electron temperature in a micro-DBD, calculated in one-dimensional fluid model. I-Ne/I-Xe also decreases with an increase in Xe gas pressure and a decrease in applied voltage especially in the initial stage of discharge, and these reflect the basic features of electron temperature in a micro-DBD. The influences of plasma parameters such as electron temperature on luminous efficacy are also theoretically analyzed using one-dimensional fluid model. The low electron temperature, which is attained at high Xe gas pressure, realizes the efficient Xe excitation for vacuum ultraviolet radiation. The high Xe-pressure condition also induces the rapid growth of discharge and consequent high plasma density, resulting in high electron heating efficiency