Formation and Photographic Properties of Selenium-Tellurium Particle Migration Electrophotographic Film

This paper describes the formation and photographic characteristics of a particle migration electrophotographic film, consisting of a monolayer of photosensitive Se-Te particles embedded just below the surface of a softenable matrix polymer coated on a conductive transparent substrate. Unlike a similar film using amorphous Se (known as Xerox Dry Microfilm, XDM), the Se-Te film is essentially panchromatic. The effects of applied field, method of development and Te concentration on the photographic characteristics of the film are discussed. The film has an ASA speed as high as ~15, and the image is spectrally essentially neutral. Like Se-XDM, the new Se-Te XDM possesses excellent resolution, good contrast density (D
max
- D
m¡n
) and gray-scale, and essentially instantaneous and dry development; both films are potentially inexpensive, have excellent shelf-life and image stability, can be read, duplicated and printed using conventional equipment, and have add-an-image capability. Thus Se-Te XDM appears capable of a variety of photographic (including micrographie and graphic arts) applications, as well as digital information recording uses.