Microcavity Plasma Arrays Based on Encapsulated Al/Al2O3 Electrodes: Device Efficiency and Electrical Characteristics for Display Applications

A group of robust microcavity plasma devices has been fabricated in Al/Al₂O₃ multilayer structures by drawing upon wet chemical processing to grow thin films of nanostructured Al₂O₃ directly from the Al substrate. Addressable, large scale arrays of microcavity plasma devices having cavities with a diameter of 100-200 mum are successfully formed by a process suitable for low cost manufacturing. This presentation reports device structure and cell designs of microcavity devices for the microdischarge in the various contents of Ne/Xe gas mixture. 20 times 20 arrays of ~200 mum dia. devices operate stably with a Xe content of 10% (and higher) and the pixel-to-pixel emission intensity is quite uniform over the pressure range of 400-800 Torr. The turn-on voltage at Ne/30% Xe was measured to be ~228V without a coating of MgO and the current value was decreased to the 30% of original current in bulk electrode after patterning aluminum electrode. The detailed electrical properties of the device and novel process for the fabrication of large scale arrays (hundreds of cm²) will be presented.