An array of ZnO nanorods was grown by thermally evaporating Zn metal in the presence of oxygen molecules on various Au-deposited substrates (PbO/glass, SIO2/PbO/glass, and Al2O3/PbO/glass), and incorporated onto the front panel of plasma display panels (PDPs), forming a hybrid PDP In an effort to obtain reasonable transmittance of visible light through the front panel of a PDP, the areal density of ZnO nanorods was controlled by patterning the Au seed layer on the substrate in a cubic array of circles by a conventional lift-off process. The resulting transmittance varied from 40-50%, depending on the area fraction of ZnO nanorods. The discharge voltage, luminance, and efficiency of ZnO nanorod-based hybrid PDP were characterized, indicating that the use of ZnO nanorods may provide an effective way of reducing discharge voltages of PDP.

Keywords: ZnO nanorods; plasma display panel; hybrid; transmittance; areal density; discharge voltage