Characteristics of vacuum ultraviolet emission from a surface discharge type alternating current plasma display panel cell

We have measured the time variation of 147 nm vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) resonance emission as well as the continuum such as 152 and 173 nm VUV and the two-dimensional images of 147 nm VUV from the He-Xe discharge in a surface discharge type single alternating current (ac) plasma display panel (PDP) cell using an image intensified charge-coupled device camera. A detailed measurement of the resonance radiation exhibits a fast rising to its peak and decay with multiple time constants. The changes in decay time constants, relative intensities of resonance, and dimer radiation change with the total gas pressure as well as the Xe partial pressure implies that collisional excitation, deexcitation, and interlevel transition play important roles in determining the VUV emission characteristics. The two-dimensional images show that a weak, broad VUV emission comes out from the cathode area with a strong, narrow emission from the anode area. We have solved the He-Xe discharge reaction equations together with the two-dimensional multifluid equations for electrons and ions to explain the experimental results and elucidate the dominant kinetic pathway which leads to the VUV emission in the ac PDP cells. The time variations of the averaged Xe*(³P₁) resonance atom and Xe₂* (0⁺_u,v≫0), and Xe₂*(1_u,v=0) dimer densities which emit 147, 152, and 173 nm VUV were compared with the measured time variation of each spectral intensities and showed very close qualitative agreements.