Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 March 2011
MgO thin films as a protective layer in plasma display panels (PDPs) weredeposited by an advanced ion-plating (AIP) apparatus that we had developed.The AIP method enables plasma operation at low-pressures of 10−3Pa. The MgO thin films were mainly (111) oriented with a small amount ofrandomly oriented textures. The preferred orientation of the films wasdependent on deposition conditions; oxygen content and substratetemperature. Fine columnar structures grew with sharp apexes at the filmsurface. Secondary electron emission coefficient from a film deposited bythe AIP method was higher than that by a conventional electron beamevaporation method. The MgO protective layer could be expected to improvePDPs by our AIP deposition.