Plasma illumination devices enhanced by carbon nanotubes

In this paper, we report the fabrication and testing of a flat visible light source by discharging Ar gas at carbon nanotubes tips. The electrodes comprised of indium tin oxide coated glass plates on which a paste of UV excited phosphor powders blended with the carbon nanotubes were screen printed. When applying voltages on such electrodes, the sharp tips of carbon nanotubes generate very high electric fields at relatively low voltages. The results show that these electrodes reduce the plasma ignition voltages effectively compared to conventional metal electrodes. A prototype light panel was also fabricated. This panel was operated at 180 VDC with a current of 20 mA. The 25 cm 2 device has a uniform visible light emission with a luminance of ∼ 500 cd ∕ m 2 .