Laser addressable thermal transfer imaging element with an interlayer
Assignee3M Innovative Properties Company
InventorsJeffrey C. Chang, John S. Staral, William A. Tolbert, Martin B. Wolk, Claire A. Jalbert, Hsin-hsin Chou
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Abstract
A thermal transfer donor element is provided which comprises a support, a light-to-heat conversion layer, an interlayer, and a thermal transfer layer. When the above donor element is brought into contact with a receptor and imagewise irradiated, an image is obtained which is free from contamination by the light-to-heat conversion layer. The construction and process of this invention is useful in making colored images including applications such as color proofs and color filter elements.
Claims2
A thermal transfer element comprising:
- a thermal transfer layer;
- a light-to-heat conversion layer including a material that absorbs imaging radiation to convert the radiation into heat to produce an imaging temperature sufficient to enable transfer of the thermal transfer Layer to a receptor;
- and
- a temperature modulation interlayer coated between the light-to-heat conversion layer and the thermal transfer layer to modulate a temperature attained in the thermal transfer layer without transferring portions of the temperature modulation interlayer to the receptor as heat is transferred from the light-to-heat conversion layer to the thermal transfer layer,
- wherein the temperature modulation interlayer comprises a crosslinked organic polymer, and
- wherein the transfer layer comprises electrically conducting or insulating particles.
A process for transferring an image onto a receptor comprising the steps of:
- a) providing a thermal transfer element, formed on a substrate having deposited thereon in the following order,
- (i) a light-to-heat conversion layer,
- (ii) an interlayer comprising a material selected from the group consisting of metals, inorganic compounds, crosslinked organic polymers, thermoplastic organic polymers with a T(g) greater than 150 deg. C., and mixtures thereof, and
- (iii) a thermal transfer layer comprising electrically conducting or insulating particles;
- b) placing the thermal transfer layer in contact with a surface of the receptor;
- c) exposing the thermal transfer element in an imagewise pattern with a radiation source;
- and
- d) transferring portions of the thermal transfer layer corresponding to the imagewise pattern to the receptor to form a transferred image on the receptor with substantially no transfer of the interlayer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.