Thermal treatment effects on degradation of BaMgAl10O17:Eu2+ phosphor for PDP

The thermal degradation mechanism of the BaMgAl10O17:Eu2+ (BAM) phosphor used in plasma display panel (PDP) is not yet fully clarified. We studied the dependency of the luminance and chromaticity y-value of BAM phosphor on baking temperature, handling time, atmosphere and thermal treating process. The luminance and chromaticity y-value increased after baking at around 400 °C but decreased at 600 °C or higher temperatures. The thermal degradation was obviously aggravated in oxidative atmosphere. The shift of y-value was reversed when thermal treated in non-oxidative atmosphere. We considered that the mechanism of thermal degradation of BAM phosphor was firstly due to the migration of Eu2+ ions and then due to the effect of oxygen. We also proposed a post-treatment for BAM phosphor to reduce the thermal degradation during panels’ fabrication.