Design, fabrication, testing, and conditioning of micro-components for use in a light-emitting panel
A method of forming micro-components is disclosed. The method includes pretesting and conditioning of the micro-components. The micro-components that fail testing or conditioning are discarded, and those remaining are assembled into a panel.
1 - 24 . (canceled)
25 . A process for forming a micro-component, comprising:
forming a shell of a predetermined shape;
encapsulating a plasma-forming gas within the shell to produce the micro-component;
testing the micro-component for a predetermined physical characteristic; and
discarding the micro-component if the micro-component does not meet the predetermined physical characteristic.
26 . The process of claim 25 , further comprising:
creating a liquid droplet in the presence of a plasma-forming gas;
encasing the droplet with a material that forms the shell; and
dehydrating the droplet encased with the material.
27 . The process of claim 25 , wherein forming the shell comprises forming the shell in the predetermined shape of a sphere.
28 . The process of claim 25 , wherein forming the shell comprises forming the shell in the predetermined shape of a capillary.
29 . The process of claim 25 , wherein forming the shell comprises glass blowing the shell with the plasma-forming gas.
30 . The process of claim 25 , wherein forming the shell comprises forming the shell with an optical fiber extrusion device.
31 . The process of claim 25 , wherein testing comprises inspecting the micro-component for a physical defect.
32 . The process of claim 31 , wherein discarding comprises discarding the micro-component if the micro-component has the physical defect.
33 . The process of claim 25 , wherein testing comprises exciting the plasma-forming gas.
34 . The process of claim 25 , wherein testing comprises detecting a luminous output from the micro-component.
35 . The process of claim 34 , wherein discarding the micro-component comprises discarding the micro-component if the luminous output is below a threshold level.
36 . The process of claim 25 , wherein the shell comprises two openings and encapsulating the plasma-forming gas comprises injecting the plasma-forming gas through one of the two openings and sealing the two openings.
37 . The process of claim 25 , wherein forming the shell comprises forming cavities in at least one of two substrates and encapsulating comprises affixing the two substrates together in the presence of the plasma-forming gas.
38 . The process of claim 25 , further comprising coating the micro-component with a frequency converting coating.
39 . The process of claim 38 , wherein coating comprises coating the micro-component with a rare earth material.
40 . The process of claim 25 , further comprising doping the shell with a conductive material.
41 . The process of claim 38 , wherein coating comprises disposing the conductive material in at least two localized areas on the shell to provide conductive paths.
42 . The process of claim 38 , wherein coating comprises disposing the conductive material in the shell to produce anisotropic conductivity in the shell.
43 . The process of claim 25 , wherein encapsulating comprises encapsulating a rare gas halide.
44 . The process of claim 38 , wherein the coating comprises coating the shell with barium fluoride.
45 . The process of claim 38 , wherein coating comprises coating the shell with yttrium aluminum garnet.
46 . The process of claim 38 , wherein coating comprises coating the shell with yttrium aluminum garnet doped with cerium.
47 . The process of claim 38 , wherein coating comprises coating the shell with gadolinium gallium garnet.
48 . A process for testing a plurality of micro-components, comprising:
selecting each micro-component for testing during a continuous process of manufacturing the micro-components;
optically inspecting each micro-component for a structural defect; and
discarding any micro-component having the structural defect.
49 . The process of claim 48 , further comprising applying an excitation field to each micro-component to cause a plasma generating gas within each micro-component to become excited to emit radiation; and
wherein optically inspecting comprises optically inspecting each micro-component to determine if each micro-component discharges the radiation and discarding comprises discarding any micro-component that does not discharge the radiation.
50 . The process of claim 49 , wherein applying the excitation field comprises exciting each micro-component with an electron beam.
51 . The process of claim 49 , wherein applying the excitation field comprises exciting each micro-component with a tesla coil.
52 . The process of claim 49 , wherein applying the excitation field comprises exciting each micro-component with a high frequency RF signal.
53 . A method for conditioning a plurality of micro-components for use in a plasma display, each micro-component emitting radiation when exposed to an excitation field, the method comprising:
assembling the plurality of micro-components into a batch;
applying the excitation field to the batch of micro-components for a predetermined amount of time; and
terminating the excitation field and individually testing operation of each one of the micro-components.
54 . The method of claim 53 , wherein individually testing comprises discarding micro-components which fail to operate.
55 . The method of claim 53 , wherein applying the excitation field comprises applying the excitation field at a magnitude greater than a second excitation field which is applied to the micro-components when in the plasma display.
56 . The method of claim 53 , wherein applying the excitation field comprises selecting the predetermined amount of time.