AVS 45th International Symposium
    Vacuum Technology Division Wednesday Sessions
       Session VT-WeM

Invited Paper VT-WeM6
Thin Film and Powder Phosphors for Field Emission Flat Panel Displays

Wednesday, November 4, 1998, 10:00 am, Room 329

Session: Vacuum Microelectronics
Presenter: P.H. Holloway, University of Florida, Gainesville
Authors: P.H. Holloway, University of Florida, Gainesville
S. Jones, University of Florida, Gainesville
T.A. Trottier, University of Florida, Gainesville
J. Sebastian, University of Florida, Gainesville
B.L. Abrams, University of Florida, Gainesville
J. Thomes, University of Florida, Gainesville
H.C. Swart, University of the Orange Free State, Republic of South Africa
Correspondent: Click to Email
Field emission displays (FEDs) are now available in the market place as monochrome product, and full color displays are available for engineering evaluation. Critical to the success of the full color display will be the performance and lifetime of the red, green and blue phosphors. The effects of operating voltage, current density, residual vacuum and phosphor, tip interactions will be discussed. The critical parameters are the phosphor brightness, efficiency, and lifetime, which are impacted by numerous factors. Reduced saturation effects have been demonstrated in FED phosphors by reducing the luminescent lifetime so that luminescent centers may be excited multiple times during one writing cycle. Charging of phosphors, especially at low voltages, has been studied and new models developed which may lead to better control through processing. Considerable progress has been achieved in understanding the limited lifetime and the phosphor/tip interaction. The surface chemistry of the phosphors is critical to brightness and efficiency, and electron beam stimulated surface chemical reactions with residual vacuum gases have been shown to dominate the evolution of surface chemistry. This is particulary true for sulfur-containing phosphors, but also true for oxide-based phosphors as well. This mechanism will be reviewed in detail, and the effects on FED phosphors will be discussed.