Design, fabrication, testing, and conditioning of micro-components for use in a light-emitting panel

Abstract

A method of forming micro-components is disclosed. The method includes pretesting and conditioning of the micro-components. The micro-components that fail testing or conditioning are discarded, and those remaining are assembled into a panel.

1 - 24 . (canceled)  
   
   
       25 . A process for forming a micro-component, comprising: 
 forming a shell of a predetermined shape;    encapsulating a plasma-forming gas within the shell to produce the micro-component;    testing the micro-component for a predetermined physical characteristic; and    discarding the micro-component if the micro-component does not meet the predetermined physical characteristic.    
   
   
       26 . The process of  claim 25 , further comprising: 
 creating a liquid droplet in the presence of a plasma-forming gas;    encasing the droplet with a material that forms the shell; and    dehydrating the droplet encased with the material.    
   
   
       27 . The process of  claim 25 , wherein forming the shell comprises forming the shell in the predetermined shape of a sphere.  
   
   
       28 . The process of  claim 25 , wherein forming the shell comprises forming the shell in the predetermined shape of a capillary.  
   
   
       29 . The process of  claim 25 , wherein forming the shell comprises glass blowing the shell with the plasma-forming gas.  
   
   
       30 . The process of  claim 25 , wherein forming the shell comprises forming the shell with an optical fiber extrusion device.  
   
   
       31 . The process of  claim 25 , wherein testing comprises inspecting the micro-component for a physical defect.  
   
   
       32 . The process of  claim 31 , wherein discarding comprises discarding the micro-component if the micro-component has the physical defect.  
   
   
       33 . The process of  claim 25 , wherein testing comprises exciting the plasma-forming gas.  
   
   
       34 . The process of  claim 25 , wherein testing comprises detecting a luminous output from the micro-component.  
   
   
       35 . The process of  claim 34 , wherein discarding the micro-component comprises discarding the micro-component if the luminous output is below a threshold level.  
   
   
       36 . The process of  claim 25 , wherein the shell comprises two openings and encapsulating the plasma-forming gas comprises injecting the plasma-forming gas through one of the two openings and sealing the two openings.  
   
   
       37 . The process of  claim 25 , wherein forming the shell comprises forming cavities in at least one of two substrates and encapsulating comprises affixing the two substrates together in the presence of the plasma-forming gas.  
   
   
       38 . The process of  claim 25 , further comprising coating the micro-component with a frequency converting coating.  
   
   
       39 . The process of  claim 38 , wherein coating comprises coating the micro-component with a rare earth material.  
   
   
       40 . The process of  claim 25 , further comprising doping the shell with a conductive material.  
   
   
       41 . The process of  claim 38 , wherein coating comprises disposing the conductive material in at least two localized areas on the shell to provide conductive paths.  
   
   
       42 . The process of  claim 38 , wherein coating comprises disposing the conductive material in the shell to produce anisotropic conductivity in the shell.  
   
   
       43 . The process of  claim 25 , wherein encapsulating comprises encapsulating a rare gas halide.  
   
   
       44 . The process of  claim 38 , wherein the coating comprises coating the shell with barium fluoride.  
   
   
       45 . The process of  claim 38 , wherein coating comprises coating the shell with yttrium aluminum garnet.  
   
   
       46 . The process of  claim 38 , wherein coating comprises coating the shell with yttrium aluminum garnet doped with cerium.  
   
   
       47 . The process of  claim 38 , wherein coating comprises coating the shell with gadolinium gallium garnet.  
   
   
       48 . A process for testing a plurality of micro-components, comprising: 
 selecting each micro-component for testing during a continuous process of manufacturing the micro-components;    optically inspecting each micro-component for a structural defect; and    discarding any micro-component having the structural defect.    
   
   
       49 . The process of  claim 48 , further comprising applying an excitation field to each micro-component to cause a plasma generating gas within each micro-component to become excited to emit radiation; and 
 wherein optically inspecting comprises optically inspecting each micro-component to determine if each micro-component discharges the radiation and discarding comprises discarding any micro-component that does not discharge the radiation.    
   
   
       50 . The process of  claim 49 , wherein applying the excitation field comprises exciting each micro-component with an electron beam.  
   
   
       51 . The process of  claim 49 , wherein applying the excitation field comprises exciting each micro-component with a tesla coil.  
   
   
       52 . The process of  claim 49 , wherein applying the excitation field comprises exciting each micro-component with a high frequency RF signal.  
   
   
       53 . A method for conditioning a plurality of micro-components for use in a plasma display, each micro-component emitting radiation when exposed to an excitation field, the method comprising: 
 assembling the plurality of micro-components into a batch;    applying the excitation field to the batch of micro-components for a predetermined amount of time; and    terminating the excitation field and individually testing operation of each one of the micro-components.    
   
   
       54 . The method of  claim 53 , wherein individually testing comprises discarding micro-components which fail to operate.  
   
   
       55 . The method of  claim 53 , wherein applying the excitation field comprises applying the excitation field at a magnitude greater than a second excitation field which is applied to the micro-components when in the plasma display.  
   
   
       56 . The method of  claim 53 , wherein applying the excitation field comprises selecting the predetermined amount of time.