Charge transport in an AC plasma panel

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