Claims
- 1. A panel display, including:
- an anode having an array of luminescent phosphors spaced thereon;
- a cathode structure having X and Y oriented electrically conductive strips;
- said anode and cathode structure being separated by a gas-filled region;
- means for applying a voltage across the gas-filled region; and
- means connected to said cathode structure for initiating an electron avalanche from said cathode structure to said anode for activating a phosphor on said anode.
- 2. The panel display of claim 1, wherein said anode and said cathode structure are co-planar.
- 3. The panel display of claim 1, wherein said means for applying a voltage include means for applying a bias voltage across overlapping points on said X and Y conductive strips.
- 4. The panel display of claim 1, wherein said array of spaced phosphors are selected from the group of monochrome and color additive phosphors.
- 5. The panel display of claim 4, wherein said phosphors comprises an array of sets of three color additive phosphors.
- 6. The panel display of claim 5, wherein said X and Y conductive strips are positioned in spaced relation to correspond to the sets of three color additive phosphors.
- 7. The panel display of claim 1, wherein said means for initiating an electron avalanche includes a quantity of a long-lived radioactive material.
- 8. The panel display of claim 1, wherein said radioactive material in americium-241.
- 9. The panel display of claim 1, wherein said means for initiating an electron avalanche includes an array of atomically sharp points.
- 10. The panel display of claim 9, wherein said atomically sharp points are located to correspond to a location of the spaced phosphors.
- 11. The panel display of claim 10, wherein said atomically sharp points are composed of material selected from the group of silicon, GaAs, SiO.sub.2, and Si.sub.3 N.sub.4.
- 12. The panel display of claim 1, wherein said gas-filled region contains a gas selected from the group consisting of argon, argon/isobutane, and Ar/CH.sub.4.
- 13. A microgap flat panel display, comprising:
- co-planar anode and cathode structure;
- said co-planar anode and cathode structure being separated by a gas-filled gap;
- said anode including an array of luminescent phosphors;
- said cathode structure including a plurality of electrically conductive strips position in X and Y orientations, said X oriented strips being insulated from said Y oriented strips;
- said cathode structure including means for initiating an electron avalanche selected from the group consisting of a radioisotope and atomically sharp points; and
- means for applying a voltage across the gas-filled gap and applying a bias voltage across the conductive strips.
- 14. The microgap flat panel display of claim 13, wherein said gas-filled gap between said anode and said cathode structure is about 100 micron, wherein said voltage applied across the gas-filled gap is about 500 volts, and wherein said array of luminescent phosphors are selected from the group of monochrome and color additive phosphors.
- 15. The microgap flat panel display of claim 13, wherein said luminescent phosphors are located on said anode to correspond to overlap regions of said X and Y conductive strips of said cathode structure, whereby application of a bias voltage across an overlap region of the X and Y conductive strips initiates an electron avalanche which activates a corresponding luminescent phosphor.
- 16. The microgap flat panel display of claim 13, additionally including a switching system for applying a bias voltage across one or more overlap regions of said X and Y oriented conductive strips, whereby one or more of the array of luminescent phosphors can be activated either singly, in sequence or simultaneously.
- 17. The microgap flat panel display of claim 13, wherein gas-filled region contains gas selected from the group of argon, argon/isobutane, and Ar/CH.sub.4.
- 18. The microgap flat panel display of claim 13, wherein said radioisotope is selected from the group of americium-241, Th-228, and Cm-244.
- 19. The microgap flat panel display of claim 13, wherein said coplanar anode and cathode structure can be positioned in flat, curved, or spherical orientations.
Government Interests
The United States Government has rights in this invention pursuant to Contract No. W-7405-ENG-48 between the United States Department of Energy and the University of California for the operation of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
US Referenced Citations (8)