碳納米管功能層在等離子體顯示中的應(yīng)用研究

鄧 江，王小菊(. 成都信息工程大學(xué)光電技術(shù)學(xué)院 成都 605；. 電子科技大學(xué)光電信息學(xué)院 成都 60054)

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碳納米管功能層在等離子體顯示中的應(yīng)用研究

鄧 江1，王小菊2
(1. 成都信息工程大學(xué)光電技術(shù)學(xué)院 成都 610225；2. 電子科技大學(xué)光電信息學(xué)院 成都 610054)

【摘要】采用噴涂法在等離子體顯示面板(AC PDP)的MgO保護(hù)層上噴涂碳納米管(CNTs)作為功能層，研究該復(fù)合型保護(hù)層的可見(jiàn)光透過(guò)率和放電性能。結(jié)果表明，CNTs/MgO保護(hù)層的可見(jiàn)光透過(guò)率超過(guò)80%。且與純MgO保護(hù)層相比， CNTs/MgO保護(hù)層單元的著火電壓和放電延遲時(shí)間明顯降低。在100 torr、10% Xe+Ne的放電條件下，CNTs/MgO保護(hù)層的著火電壓和放電延遲時(shí)間分別為263.5 V和270 ns，與純MgO保護(hù)層相比，分別降低了15%和26%。因此，CNTs/MgO保護(hù)層在AC PDP中具有潛在的應(yīng)用前景。

關(guān) 鍵 詞碳納米管; 放電延遲時(shí)間; 著火電壓; 保護(hù)層; 透過(guò)率

Compared with other display devices, plasma display panels (AC PDPs) have several advantages[1-2], such as high contrast, high luminance, and large size. Generally, MgO film is used as the protective layer of AC PDP. It plays an important role in influencing the driving voltages of AC PDP and protecting the electrodes and dielectric layer from the bombardment of ions, electrons, photons, and metastable atoms, which exist in AC PDP during the discharge operation. However, at present, the discharge voltages (the firing and sustain voltages) of AC PDP with a conventional MgO protective layer are still considered to be too high, which results in high electrical power consumption and urges people to look for new protective materials.

In the past years, a doped MgO layer[3-5], a double protective layer[6-8], and new materials instead of MgO protective layer[9-10], have been emerged in many papers, mainly in order to improve the luminous efficiency and reduce power consumption. According to the discharge mechanism of AC PDP, priming electrons are required to ignite a discharge. Recently, our group has studied the application of hexaboride lanthanum (LaB6) in AC PDP. Because of the low work function of LaB6, it was easy to generate priming electrons, and lower firing voltage and shorter discharge delay time were obtained accordingly[11-12].

In this work, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were coated on a conventional MgO protective film by aspray coating method as a functional layer. CNT is an excellent field emission material and it has attracted considerable attention due to its excellent electronic and structural properties. Among the various applications, Report on the extraordinary high electron-induced SEE yields for MgO/CNTs suggested the possibility of its application in AC PDP, in which MgO film was deposited on CNTs surface[13]. In this work, we studied the possible application of the CNTs/MgO protective layer to AC PDP by fabricating a prototype of AC PDP and testing the discharge characteristics. This structure is different from that in Ref. [13] which CNTs was coated on MgO protective film to act as a functional layer.

1 Experiments

In our experiment, the substrates were provided by Changhong Display Device Co. Ltd., Mianyang China, which included indium thin oxide (ITO) layer, transparent dielectric layer, and an MgO protective layer. The preparation process of spray coated CNTs was as follows. First, the MWNTs (0.1 g), ethyl cellulose (80 mL), and acetone (120 mL) were mixed and ultrasonic vibrated for 24 h to form a type of solution. Next, the solution was coated on the substrate by a spray gun and dried at 120 ℃ in air for 10 min. To observe the visible light transmittance and discharge properties of fabricated CNTs/MgO protective layer, the products were characterized and analyzed by an ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer and an AC PDP discharge test system, respectively.

Fig. 1 shows the structure of the AC PDP test cell used in this experiment. Dielectric layers with the thickness of 21 μm and barrier ribs with the height of 120 μm were prepared by the screen-printing method. The transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) layer with the thickness of 130 nm was fabricated by the magnetron sputtering method and patterned by the lithography process. The MgO protective layer with the thickness of 800 nm was formed on the dielectric layer by electron beam evaporation and then a very small amount of CNTs was coated on the MgO film as a functional layer. The coplanar gap between the common electrode and the scan electrode was 80 μm, and the width of the barrier was 50 μm. The discharge gas consisted of Ne and Xe at 20~100 torr.

Fig. 1　Schematic diagram of the AC PDP prototype used in this experiment.

2 Results and discussions

Fig. 2 shows the visible light transmittance of CNTs/MgO protective layer, using a conventional MgO protective layer as a reference. It indicates that, the relative transmittance of CNTs/MgO protective layer is more than 80 % in the 400 nm to 800 nm wavelength range. Especially, in the 500 nm to 550 nm wavelength range, the transmittance is high up to 90%.

Fig. 2　Visible light transmittances of CNTs/MgO protective layer using a conventional MgO protective layer as a reference.

Fig. 3 compares the firing voltages of the test panels with a CNTs/MgO protective layer and a conventional MgO protective layer in 5 % and 10 % Xe-Ne, respectively. It is found that no matter how high the pressure is, the discharge voltage of the test panel with CNTs/MgO is lower than that with a conventional MgO layer. Especially, with 100 torr 10% Xe-Ne applied to the testing system, the firing voltage of the AC PDP test cell with CNTs/MgO protective layer is 263.5 V, which is 15 % lower than that with a conventional MgO protective layer (308.5 V). According to Paschen’s law, the firing voltage (Vf) is dependent on the content of gas mixture, the gas pressure, and the emission characteristics of theprotective layer. It is defined by the following equation.

where A and B are constants determined by the properties of the gas, P is the gas pressure, d is the distance between electrodes, andγis the secondary electron emission yield. We can conclude that the CNTs/MgO structure has higher γ than a conventional MgO layer. One of the possible reasons for the SEE enhancement may be ascribed to the geometrical feature of CNTs, i.e., high aspect ratio, and small tip radius at the apex. In addition, according to the potential theory, the γ value is proportional towhere Eiis the ionization energy and φ is the work function of the film. We can assume that CNTs/MgO has a smaller work function than conventional MgO. The reason of the decrease in the work function is not proven, so further investigation is needed.

Fig. 3　Firing voltages of AC PDP test cells with a CNTs/MgO protective layer and a conventional MgO protective layer versus gas pressure.

Fig. 4　Discharge delay time of AC PDP test cells with a CNTs/MgO protective layer and a conventional MgOprotective layer versus gas pressure.

Fig. 4 shows the discharge delay time of the test panels with a CNTs/MgO protective layer and a conventional MgO protective layer, respectively. It is found that the test cell with a CNTs/MgO protective layer always presents much shorter discharge delay time than that with a pure MgO protective layer. The reciprocal of the statistical delay is expressed as

where Yeis the generation rate of priming electrons and0P is the probability of a discharge being caused by one initial priming electron[14]. Because0P is constant for a particular cell structure and electric field, tsis determined by the priming electron emission rate. We can assume that the priming electrons are emitted by the field emission of CNTs when the measuring voltages are applied. Before the measuring voltage is applied, CNTs near the anode have a negative charge wall charge induced by the previous discharges because the CNTs are in contact with the insulator. When the measuring voltage is applied, the CNTs act as cathodes, resulting in fieldelectron emission. Then, tsof CNTs/MgO protective layer is reduced. As shown in Fig. 4b, with 100 torr 10% Xe-Ne pressure, the discharge delay time for the PDP cell with a CNTs/MgO protective layer reaches 270 ns, which is 26 % lower than a conventional MgO protective layer (365 ns).

3 Conclusions

In conclusion, the transmittance and discharge properties of a CNTs/MgO protective layer used in AC PDP have been investigated. Both the firing voltages and discharge delay time of the test cell decrease are attributed to the addition of CNTs functional layer. The electron emission from CNTs can be explained by the field emission, which is different from the mechanism of electron emission from the MgO film and is beneficial to improve the discharge properties of AC PDP.

參 考 文 獻(xiàn)

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編 輯 黃 莘

作者簡(jiǎn)介：鄧江(1978 ? )，男，博士，主要從事氣體放電、顯示方面的研究.

收稿日期：2014 ? 03 ? 11；修回日期： 2015 ? 05 ? 04

中圖分類(lèi)號(hào)O461.2

文獻(xiàn)標(biāo)志碼A

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1001-0548.2016.01.026

Received date：2014 ? 03 ? 11；Revised date：2015 ? 05 ? 04

Biography：DENG Jiang was born in 1978, and his research interests include gas discharge and display.