This book discusses recent developments in electroluminescent (EL) displays, in particular thin-film EL displays, which are all-solid emissive displays with fast response, wide viewing angle, high resolution, wide operating temperature ranges and good display qualities. First, the characteristics of four types of EL devices are presented, and the physics of ac thin-film EL devices are detailed, including ideal models, measuring and evaluation methods, high-field electronic transport and properties of phosphor materials. The book emphasizes recent developments in phosphor materials for color thin-film EL devices based on ZnS, SrS, CaS and CaGa2S4, and multicolor thin-film EL panels in four-panel structures. Other important features discussed are drive methods and reliability issues.

Advances in Electronics and Electron Physics

An electroluminescent (EL) material is one that emits electromagnetic (EM) radiation in the visible or near visible range when an electric field is applied to it. EL materials have a vast array of applications in the illumination and displays industries, from cheap and energy efficient lighting to large high resolution flat panel displays.

This book is a comprehensive review of the present state and future prospects of the displays used in entertainment television sets and in data terminals and personal computers. Such a treatment was deemed necessary because of the importance of displays in possible future communications services incorporating computer graphics and video. A few main conclusions are drawn. One is that modest-sized flat-panel displays will become commonplace where space is at a premium, such as on desktops and in kitchens or bedrooms. It is another matter to stretch these displays to several feet on a side, however. For the next five to ten years, these larger displays will mostly rely on optical projection. Thereafter, plasma techniques could well make large-area, flat-panel TV displays affordable.