Hg+ ion density in low-pressure Ar-Hg discharge plasma used for liquid crystal display back-lighting

The positive column of a low-pressure Ar-Hg discharge has been applied as a fluorescent light source for illumination. Many studies on the diagnostics and fundamental mechanisms have been carried out on both the classical fluorescent lamp (d=36 mm) and the compact fluorescent lamp (d=12 mm). On the other hand, a lamp of extremely narrow diameter (usually below 6 mm) has been recently developed for liquid crystal display (LCD) back-lighting and its importance is undoubtedly increasing. Some characteristics or mechanisms of the narrow-diameter lamp may be similar to those of the 36 mm one; however the similarity rule does not hold between them due to the contributions from a stepwise ionization process. Therefore, in order to clarify the excitation mechanism in the narrow-diameter lamp quantitatively, various parameters must be measured directly and some analysis must be done. The Hg+ ion density and electron density are important parameters for the purpose of clarifying the excitation mechanism quantitatively. In this work, we have measured the Hg+ ion density using the modified absorption method, and the electron density using the probe method in the Ar-Hg discharge of the 4 mm bore tube on bath temperature. Moreover, with combining the modified absorption method and the probe method, the Hg2+ molecular ion density has been determined