Environmentally stable amorphous silicon photoreceptor and method for making same
US6300028A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 25, 1998 |
| Grant date | Oct 9, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 25, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG03G5/08278
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
The present invention provides an improved a-Si:H photoreceptor comprising a-Si:H photoconductors and conductive substrates, such as metallic members or plastic members provided with a metallic or an ohmic layer, in which degrading effects of the ambient environment on the electrophotographic properties of the a-Si:H photoconductor is minimized. The present invention also provides a cost-effective method of forming the improved a-Si:H photoreceptors. The method comprises stabilizing an a-Si:H photoreceptor member against environmental degradation of its photoconductive properties, by modifying the working surface of the photoconductor through treatment with a silanol solution. The clean annealed photoreceptor is preferably exposed to a freshly prepared aqueous mixture of an organosilane hydrolyzable to yield a silanol solution. The photoreceptor is then rinsed with water to remove vagrant oligomers formed during condensation of the silanol prepolymers but unattached to surface sites on the photoconductor. The photoreceptor is then heat-treated to convert the hydrogen bonds between resident silanols and hydroxy groups on the photoconductor surface into covalent siloxane linkages, wi…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.