Color plasma display

Claim 1

A plasma display device comprising: means forming a matrix of sealed cavities in a common Plane, said cavities being formed as openings through a sheet of an insulating material positioned between a pair of insulating plates, the plates forming the ends of said cavity; a neon gas capable of sustaining a nonchemical reactive electric discharge contained in each said cavity; exciting means including an anode means and cathode means associated with each cavity for selectively developing a potential difference across each cavity sufficient to excite the gas therein to form a discharge generating photons over a wide wavelength spectrum including a significant number of photons of relatively long wavelength in the red and infrared region; and at least one surface of each cavity including a multiphoton down-conversion phosphor which is responsive to two or more of the red and infrared photons of the gas discharge impinging on the phosphor surface to excite the phosphor to generate one photon at and/or the phosphor''s characteristic wavelength in the visible region, said phosphor being incorporated into the material of at least one of said plates at least in the region thereof forming the end of said cavity, the material of the plate into which the phosphor is incorporated being transparent to photons in the red and infrared region, said anode means and cathode means being located on opposite ends of said cavity and having a potential difference of predetermined energy selectively applied between them, the cavity dimensions, electrical energy, pressure on the gas in the cavity and other factors being such as to form a positive column discharge in the cavity when the gas in the cavity is excited.