Laser-Deposition Of High Luminance Thin Film Phosphors

High luminance (brightness) thin-film phosphor materials have potential use in a variety of applications including heads-up, helmet-mounted, and electroluminescent displays, as well as in emerging flat-panel displays based on field emitter technology. Phosphor materials in thin film form offer several advantages over conventional powder phosphor screens. Since the film is nearly fully dense and in intimate contact with the underlying substrate, thin film phosphors transfer heat to the face plate much quicker than conventional, more porous, powder phosphor materials. This allows thin film phosphor screens to be driven at higher power levels, and therefore produce higher luminance, assuming the efficiency of the powder and film are the same. Fully dense phosphor films have smaller surface area, and will outgas less than conventional powder phosphor materials. Thin film phosphors have smaller grain sizes than conventional powder phosphor materials which will provide for smaller spot size, and thus, higher resolution. Furthermore, in applications such as field-emitter displays, powder phosphor particles can be physically dislodged from the screen due to the high electric fields produced by the large potential difference between the anode screen and gate electrode (or cathode), or dislodged by arcing which may occur if a powder particle protrudes significantly above the screen surface. Dislodged particles or damage produced by arcing could degrade display performance. Dense, thin-film phosphor materials which are well adhered to transparent substrates will provide much smoother surface morphologies, and should be able to withstand significantly higher electric field strength without arcing or screen degradation due to the dislocation of particles.