Matrix phosphor cold cathode display employing secondary emission

1. A flat panel display comprising:

a first substrate comprising;

a plurality of electrically addressable pixels, each of said pixels includes a conductive pad coated with an insulator and having a phosphor on said insulator;

a plurality of thin-film transistor (TFT) driver circuits each being electrically coupled to an associated one of said pixels;

a passivating layer on said thin-film transistor driver circuits and at least partially around said pixels;

a conductive frame on said passivating layer, said conductive frame at least partly coated with an insulating material, said insulating material being porous to allow current to pass therethrough;

a plurality of cold cathode emitters located in the vicinity of said pixels; and means for exciting said conductive frame and addressing one of said pixels using said associated TFT driver circuit to cause said cold cathode emitters to emit electrons which strike a phosphor causing said phosphor to emit light; and

a second substrate including a metal layer thereon, wherein said first substrate and said second substrate are sealed about a periphery to form an internal hollow therein, said hollow being filled with at least one of: an inert gas and a mixture of inert gases; and

means for applying a voltage to the metal layer to ionize the one of the inert gas and the mixture of inert gases to generate a plasma, wherein said electrons emitted by said cold cathode emitters further interact with ions in said plasma causing the ions to be attracted to said conductive frame area covered by said insulating material to cause additional electrons to be emitted from said conductive frame area, said additional electrons when striking said phosphor increase the light emitted by said phosphor.

2. The display of claim 1 , wherein said cold cathode emitters are located on the conductive frame.

3. The display of claim 1 , wherein said insulating material is selected from insulating materials capable of emitting electrons when impinged upon by ions.

4. The display of claim 1 , wherein said insulating material is a thin layer of SiO 2 or MgO.

5. The display of claim 1 , wherein a sheath boundary is formed between said plasma and said insulator.

6. The display of claim 1 , wherein said conductive frame comprises a plurality of parallel columns of conductors.

7. The display of claim 1 , wherein said conductive frame comprise a matrix of row and column conductors defining a plurality of cells each associated with one of said pixels.

8. The display of claim 1 , wherein said cold cathode emitters comprise carbon nanotubes.

9. The display of claim 1 , wherein said driver circuit comprises at least one transistor coupled to said pixel.

10. The display of claim 1 , wherein said driver circuit comprises a first transistor coupled to said conductive pad and a second transistor and capacitor coupled to a gate of said first transistor.

11. The display of claim 10 , wherein said first substrate is transparent.

12. A display comprising:

a first substrate;

a plurality of electrically addressable pixels supported on said first substrate, wherein each of said pixels comprises a conductive pad coated with an insulator and having a phosphor on said insulator;

a passivating layer surrounding each of said pixels;

a conductive frame supported by said passivating layer;

an insulating layer deposited on the conductive frame, said insulating layer being porous to allow current to pass therethrough;

a plurality of cold cathode emitters positioned on said conductive frame and operative to emit electrons when an associated pixel is addressed, said electrons when striking said phosphor cause said phosphor to emit light; and

means for exciting said conductive frame and addressing one of said pixels to cause electrons to be emitted from the insulating layer on the conductive frame; and

a transparent second substrate oppositely disposed from said first substrate, incorporating a conductive metal layer (ML) thereon, said first and second substrates sealed at their peripheries to form an internal hollow;

at least one of a noble gas and a mixture thereof filing the internal hollow; and

means for applying a voltage to the conductive metal layer to ionize the at least one of a noble gas and a mixture thereof to generate a plasma, wherein said electrons emitted by said cold cathode emitters further interact with ions in said plasma causing the ions to be attracted to said conductive frame area covered by said insulating material to cause additional electrons to be emitted from said conductive frame area, said additional electrons when striking said phosphor increase the light emitted by said phosphor.

13. The display of claim 12 , wherein said conductive frame comprise a matrix to row and column conductors defining a plurality of cells each associated with one of said pixels.

14. The display of claim 12 , further comprising at least one contact pad electrically coupled to said conductive frame.

15. The display of claim 12 , wherein said cold cathode emitters comprise carbon nanotubes.

16. The display of claim 12 , further comprising a plurality of driver circuits each being electrically coupled to an associated at least one of said pixels, wherein each said driver circuit comprises at least one transistor coupled to said conductive pad.

17. The display of claim 12 , wherein each said driver circuit comprises a first transistor coupled to said conductive pad, and a second transistor and a capacitor coupled to a gate of said first transistor.

18. The display of claim 12 , wherein the ML layer having a DC, AC or pulsed voltage applied thereto controls the amplitude of cold cathode emission.

19. The display of claim 12 , wherein said ML having a DC, AC or pulsed voltage to enhance a sheath boundary to form between said plasma and said insulating layer.