Sensitivity of Imaging Materials to Electron Beam Irradiation

A literature review was conducted in order to assess what approaches could be taken to enhance the sensitivity of PERM (processless electron recording media) film to electron-beam irradiation. It was implied that the process for producing the film had been optimized with the current imaging component and that a different imaging component would be required. Among the few imaging compounds capable of being converted from a colorless to a colored product directly upon exposure to an electron beam without further processing are the substituted diacetylenes. The surveyed diacetylene literature revealed little previous work with regard to the electron-beam imaging process. Much of the early work involved thermal, UV, and gamma radiation induced polymerization, primarily in the solid state. Only in the late 70s were soluble diacetylene polymers synthesized, creating the opportunity to study the solution chemistry of diacetylene polymerization. This result produced a wide variety of studies directed toward a better understanding of the structural changes that give rise to the observed chromic effects.