Charge transport in an AC plasma panel

A transverse voltage applied between a display cell D and a transfer cell T on a standard 60 lines/inch ac plasma panel can simultaneously cause a previously ON cell D to fire and transport a large amount of electrons from cell D toward cell T . The same transverse voltage combines with the voltage due to transported electrons to produce subsequent discharges which, initiated near cell T , grow rapidly as they propagate along the row toward cell D . A voltage pulse (≃sustain pulse), applied to cell T , will combine with the local row wall voltage to produce another sequence of discharges along the row. These discharges, initiated near cell D , gain intensity as they spread toward cell T . This dynamic process results in a large and controllable charge transfer between the display cell D and the transfer cell T , a key mechanism for shift address display. By reversing the polarity of the transverse voltage, ions also can be transported, but ion transport produces smaller charge transfer.