Photon-induced surface conductivity measurement of MgO in an AC PDP

In order to study the relationship between the discharge characteristics of an ac PDP and the surface conductivity of MgO thin film, the surface current across a ring shaped MgO film was measured by exposure to monochromatic vacuum ultraviolet from the synchrotron radiation source whose wavelength ranges from 60nm to 240nm $(5.5eV{\sim}25eV)$. The experimental results show that the surface current begins to increase rapidly at the photon energy of about 9 eV which might correspond to the valence band edge of MgO. The difference in the surface current level correlate well with the differences in the preparation method of MgO films and their respective discharge characteristics such as the firing, minimum sustain voltages, address voltage margin and address discharge delay time.