Design, fabrication, testing, and conditioning of micro-components for use in a light-emitting panel
First Claim
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1. A process for forming a micro-component, comprising:
- forming a shell of predetermined shape and encapsulating therein a plasma-forming gas to thereby form a micro-component;
testing the formed micro-component for certain predetermined physical characteristics;
discarding each formed micro-component that does not meet the predetermined physical characteristics.
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Abstract
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.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A process for forming a micro-component, comprising:
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forming a shell of predetermined shape and encapsulating therein a plasma-forming gas to thereby form a micro-component;
testing the formed micro-component for certain predetermined physical characteristics;
discarding each formed micro-component that does not meet the predetermined physical characteristics. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
creating liquid droplets of the same shape as the micro-component to be formed, in the presence of a plasma-forming gas;
encasing said droplets with a material which forms said shell; and
dehydrating said encased droplets.
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3. The process of claim 1, wherein said predetermined shape is a sphere.
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4. The process of claim 1, wherein said predetermined shape is a capillary.
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5. The process of claim 1, wherein said testing comprises inspecting the formed micro-component for physical defects, and thereafter exciting the gas therein, detecting luminous output from each formed micro-component and discarding each formed micro-component that has physical defects or does not achieve a predetermined level of luminous output.
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6. The process of claim 1, wherein the micro-components are formed by forming a shell and thereafter injecting a plasma-forming gas therein and sealing the shell to encapsulate the plasma-forming gas in the shell.
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7. The process of claim 1, wherein the micro-component is formed by forming cavities in at least one of two substrates in the presence of at least one plasma-forming gas, and affixing the two substrates together.
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8. The process of claim 1, further comprising forming said micro-components of a size of at least about 10 microns to about several centimeters.
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9. The process of claim 1, further comprising coating the micro-component with a frequency converting coating.
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10. The process of claim 9, wherein said frequency converting coating is phosphor.
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11. The process of claim 9, wherein said frequency converting coating is a rare earth.
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12. The process of claim 9, wherein said coating is at least one of barium fluoride, yttrium aluminum garnet, yttrium aluminum garnet doped with cerium, and gadolinium gallium garnet.
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13. The process of claim 1, wherein said plasma-forming gas is a rare gas halide.
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14. The method of claim 1, wherein said plasma-forming gas contains at least one of the rare gas halides.
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15. The process of claim 1, wherein the micro-components are formed by glass blowing with a capillary, and with a plasma-forming gas being blown through the capillary to form the plasma-forming gas encapsulating micro-component.
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16. A process for testing formed micro-components, comprising:
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in a continuous process, optically inspecting micro-components as they are formed for structural defects; and
discarding micro-components detected to have structural defects. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
optically inspecting each micro-component to determine if it discharges radiation; and
discarding those micro-components that do not discharge radiation.
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18. The process of claim 17, wherein said micro-components are excited by an electron beam.
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19. The method of claim 18, wherein said individual testing comprises discarding micro-components which fail said individual testing.
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20. The method of claim 18, wherein said micro-components are excited at a level of excitation greater than any excitation to be applied when assembled in a plasma display.
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21. The method of claim 18, wherein said predetermined amount of time is selected to be sufficient to ensure that substantially all micro-components which are to fail, fail during said predetermined amount of time.
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22. The process of claim 17, wherein said micro-components are excited by a tesla coil.
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23. The process of claim 17, wherein said micro-components are excited by high frequency RF.
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24. A method of conditioning micro-components for use in plasma display, comprising
assembling micro-components to be assembled into a display in a batch; -
applying an excitation field to the assembled micro-components to excite a plasma generating gas in the micro-components for a predetermined amount of time; and
terminating said excitation and continuously individually testing the micro-components to ensure each one functions.
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Specification