One-dimensional fluid and circuit simulation of an AC plasmadisplay cell

A one-dimensional multispecies model of a helium filled AC plasma display cell is described. The model includes a continuity equation for each species. Poisson's equation and a circuit equation. The fill gas is helium for which the cross sections for ionization and excitation for the various atomic states are well known. The reaction rates for the different species were parametrized as functions of E/N using a zero-dimensional spatial and two velocity multispecies Boltzmann kinetic code. Calculations are performed using address and sustain voltages operating at a frequency of 50 kHz to model the pulse behavior of a dielectric barrier discharge which occurs over a time scale on the order of 200 ns or less. The code simulates multipulse behavior and shows reasonably good agreement with experimental data. The simulations show that the circuit filters out the discharge dynamics and that the pulse width of the discharge current depends on the circuit RC time constant. Using a 123 V sustain voltage, the calculated discharge current is 0.4 A with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 28 ns. Experimental values using a 120 V sustain voltage are 0.32 A discharge current and 42 ns FWHM     

Two-dimensional simulations of plasma flow and charge spreadingacross barrier pixels in AC plasma displays

Two-dimensional multispecies simulations of adjacent pixels separated by a barrier height 80% the gap height in a plasma display pixel cell are performed. The fill gas pressure is 400 torr with 2% xenon in helium. The simulations using a minimum number of excited states of helium and xenon are performed for different cell widths representing different display resolutions. The simulations show plasma transport through the gap to the adjacent pixel which is in the sustained off state. In a sustained off state, there is no discharge in the pixel at the sustained voltage. The simulations show that for low-resolution displays, the plasma overflow does not cause a discharge in the adjacent pixel that is in the sustained off mode, while for a high-resolution display a 20% gap in the barrier height could result in a breakdown in the adjacent off pixel. A higher pixel resolution, or equivalently smaller pixel pitch. requires higher firing and sustained voltages due primarily to increased particle losses as a result of the reduced particle transit times. Finally, using a larger number of excited xenon atomic states including the xenon [6s, j=1] and [6s', j=1] radiative states and the molecular xenon dimer, an isolated single pixel is simulated to model the transport of excited states including the radiative states. The model shows that the density profiles peak in the cathode fall region spreading out to the side walls with decreasing intensity     

One-dimensional single and multipulse simulations of the ON/OFFvoltages and the bistable margin for He, Xe, and He/Xe filled plasmadisplay pixels

A one-dimensional plasma model developed for AC plasma display pixels is used to perform multipulse and single-pulse simulations to model the maximum sustain voltages, the minimum sustain voltages, and the voltage margins for 100% helium, 100% xenon, and for 2% xenon in helium and a 400 torr pressure (p) and a gap (L) of 100 μm. The multipulse simulations describe the growth in wall voltage at the so-called ON voltage and the decay in wall voltage at the so-called OFF voltage. For square wave forms, the ON voltage is the voltage at which a pixel attains to a stable operation in which a discharge occurs in each succeeding pulse and the wall voltage equal to the applied voltage. The OFF voltage is the voltage at which a pixel that is ON goes off and no further discharges occur. Experimental data for helium show the hysteresis in the discharge current observed when the voltage is increased to turn ON pixels and then reduced to turn OFF-pixels in a panel. Simulations which match the helium data are also shown. The difference between the ON and OFF voltages defines the bistable margin. For the helium-xenon Penning mixture, the ON and OFF voltages determined by multipulse simulations are almost identical to the values obtained from the wall voltage transfer curve method. In the helium-xenon Penning mixture, the ionization rate for xenon ground state increases dramatically compared to its ionization rate in pure xenon due to the modification in the electron velocity distribution function in the mixture. This feature provides enhanced volumetric ionization in the discharge and hence a rapid growth rate of the wall voltage which is desirable for a sharp transition from OFF to ON in a pixel     

A two-dimensional multispecies fluid model of the plasma in an ACplasma display panel

A time dependent, two-dimensional model for simulating the plasma evolution in an AC plasma display panel (AC-PDP) is described. Reaction-convection (mobility)-diffusion equations for charged particles and excited heavy neutral species are solved along with Poisson's equation, a radiation transport equation, a surface charge buildup equation, and an external L-R-C circuit equation using a fully implicit numerical method. Electron-driven rate coefficients are computed with a 0-D Boltzmann solver in the local field approximation. For studying the particle dynamics in pure helium, we consider a reduced model in which radiation transport is ignored and the excited species manifold is collapsed to composite metastable and excited states. The model predictions of breakdown voltage are quite sensitive to the value of the secondary electron emission coefficient assumed and the uncertainties in the electron-driven reaction rates. An initial comparison between the model predictions and I-V measurements from a specially constructed helium-filled panel is made with qualitatively similar behavior. The lack of quantitative agreement can be explained by a combination of uncertainties in the model input data and uncertainty in the initial surface charge state in the experiments