Effect of dual coplanar electrodes on Mercury-free flat fluorescent lamps for liquid crystal display

The effects of dual coplanar electrodes on a Hg-free flat fluorescent lamp were studied. For a dual coplanar lamp, brightness and efficacy were improved by 80% compared to a conventional coplanar lamp. The improvement is regarded as the result of reduced diffusion loss and the effective usage of the discharge volume in the dual coplanar lamps. An efficacy of 35.9 lm/w (14900 cd/m/sup 2/) was achieved for 250 torr of a Xe(30%)/Ne(70%) gas mixture, by a 20-kHz ac pulse driving.