Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Daisuke Tazawa

Kazuyoshi Akiyama

Toshiyasu Shirasuna

Hitoshi Murayama

Tatsuyuki Aoike

Kazuto Hosoi

Yukihiro Abe

Tomohito Ozawa

Takashi Otsuka

Shinji Tsuchida

Hiroaki Niino

Yuu Nishimura

Makoto Aoki

Satoshi Kojima

Shigenori Ueda

Hironori Owaki

Takashi Ohtsuka

Takanori Ueno

Motoya Yamada

An electrophotographic apparatus does not have a unit for maintaining a uniform surface temperature of an electrophotographic photosensitive member through its surface. The electrophotographic photosensitive member has temperature dependent characteristics and is equally divided into two regions in a cylindrical shaft direction such that absolute values of the temperature dependence of the photosensitive-member characteristics in the two regions are not the same. The electrophotographic photosensitive member is arranged so that when, among the two regions, a region which has a smaller absolute value of the temperature dependence of the photosensitive-member characteristics is defined as a first region, and a region which has a larger absolute value of the temperature dependence of the photosensitive-member characteristics is defined as a second region. The change of the surface temperature of the first region becomes larger than the change of the surface temperature of the second region when an image is formed by the electrophotographic apparatus.

Electrophotographic apparatus having having temperature dependent photosensitive member

An image-forming method uses an electrophotographic photosensitive member having a surface layer formed of a hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide in which a ratio of the number of carbon atoms to the sum of the number of silicon atoms and the number of the carbon atoms in the surface layer is 0.61 or more and 0.75 or less, and the sum of the atomic density of the silicon atoms and the atomic density of the carbon atoms in the surface layer is 6.60&#xd7;10atoms/cmor more, and the peak wavelength of pre-exposure light is shorter than the peak wavelength of image exposure light.

Image-forming method

An electrophotographic photosensitive member is configured such that the average value Hx_ave of the content of hydrogen atoms in a central portion area of a photoconductive layer in a cylindrically axial direction thereof, the content Hx of the hydrogen atoms at an arbitrary point in the central portion area, the average value Hy_ave of the content of the hydrogen atoms in an end area of the photoconductive layer in the cylindrically axial direction thereof, and the content Hy of the hydrogen atoms at an arbitrary point in the end area satisfy 10&#x2266;Hx_ave&#x2266;30, Hx&#x3c;Hy, |Hx_ave&#x2212;Hx|&#x2266;5, and 2&#x2266;Hy_ave&#x2212;Hx_ave&#x2266;12.

Electrophotographic photosensitive member and electrophotographic apparatus

An electrophotographic photosensitive member includes a photoconductive layer, an intermediate layer, and a surface layer. When Si+C atom density in the surface layer is represented by D&#xd7;10atoms/cm, the Dis 6.60 or more, and when the maximal value of H/(Si+H) in a distribution of hydrogen quantity in the photoconductive layer in a layer thickness direction is represented by H, the average value of the H/(Si+H) in the second photoconductive region is represented by H, the Dand the Hsatisfy the following expression (1) and the Dand the Hsatisfy the following expression (2).&#x2267;0.07&#xd7;&#x2212;0.38&#x2003;&#x2003;Expression (1)&#x2266;0.04&#xd7;+0.60&#x2003;&#x2003;Expression (2)

The present invention provides an electrophotographic photosensitive member including a photoconductive layer, an intermediate layer made of hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide on the photoconductive layer, and a surface layer made of hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide on the intermediate layer, wherein a ratio (C/(Si+C); C2) in the surface layer is 0.61 to 0.75, and a sum of atom density of silicon and carbon is 6.60&#xd7;10atoms/cmor more, a ratio (C/(Si+C); C1) and a sum (D1) of atom density of silicon and carbon in the intermediate layer increase continuously from the photoconductive layer toward the surface layer without exceeding C2 and D2, and the intermediate layer has a continuous region in which C1 is 0.25 to C2 while D1 is 5.50&#xd7;10to 6.45&#xd7;10atoms/cm, the region being 150 nm or larger in a layer thickness direction, and an electrophotographic apparatus equipped therewith.

An electrophotographic photosensitive member includes a substrate, a photoconductive layer, an intermediate layer, and a surface layer sequentially formed. The intermediate layer contains silicon, carbon and hydrogen, and a distribution of a hydrogen ratio, which is a ratio of the number of hydrogen atoms to the number of silicon, carbon and hydrogen atoms, in the intermediate layer has a maximum region. A largest hydrogen atomic ratio in the intermediate layer is larger than a hydrogen atomic ratio in the surface layer, and the hydrogen atomic ratio in the surface layer is 0.30 to 0.45. A distribution of a carbon atomic ratio, which is a ratio of the number of carbon atoms to the number of silicon and carbon atoms, in the intermediate layer has a maximum and a minimum region. A carbon atomic ratio in the maximum region is 0.53 to 0.63, a carbon atomic ratio in the minimum region is 0.47 or more, and the maximum hydrogen region in the intermediate layer is partially superimposed on the minimum carbon region.

In a plasma treatment method of and apparatus for treating the surface of a treatment target substrate by utilizing glow discharge produced by supplying high-frequency power into an inside-evacuated reactor through a high-frequency power supply means, a plurality of impedance regulation means for regulating impedances on the side of the reactor and on the side of the high-frequency power supply means are provided correspondingly to the impedances of a plurality of reactors, and the high-frequency power is supplied into the reactors via the impedance regulation means corresponding to the reactors. Plasma treatment can be made in a good efficiency and a low cost on a plurality of reactors having different impedances.

Plasma treatment method

A vacuum processing method including placing an article to be processed in a reaction container and simultaneously supplying at least two high-frequency powers having different frequencies to the same high-frequency electrode to generate plasma in the reaction container by the high-frequency powers introduced into the reaction container from the high-frequency electrode. The frequencies and power values of the at least two high-frequency powers supplied satisfy a required relationship.

Vacuum processing apparatus in which high frequency powers having mutually different frequencies are used to generate plasma for processing an article

A vacuum processing method that includes placing an article to be processed in a reaction container and simultaneously supplying at least two high-frequency powers having mutually different frequencies to at least one high-frequency electrode to generate plasma in the reaction container by the high-frequency powers introduced into the reaction container from the high-frequency electrode(s), thereby processing the article. The frequencies and power values of the at least two high-frequency powers supplied satisfy required relationships.

Vacuum processing method and semiconductor device manufacturing method in which high-frequency powers having mutually different frequencies are applied to at least one electrode

Plasma treatment apparatus

Apparatus and method for forming deposited film

For making it feasible to suit to vacuum processing utilizing a system consisting of an exhaust section and a separable vacuum processing vessel section, to ensure flexibility of production, to prevent dust from attaching onto an article, so as to achieve increase in non-defective percentage of vacuum-processed articles, and also to suppress variability in vacuum processing characteristics among lots, an article is loaded into a movable vacuum processing vessel section, the vacuum processing vessel section is preliminarily pressure-reduced and moved, the vacuum processing vessel section is connected to an exhaust section, and communication is established between the vacuum processing vessel section and the exhaust section to perform vacuum processing. A first opening provided in the vacuum processing vessel section is connected to a second opening provided in the exhaust section and a vacuum seal valve of the first opening which is openable and closable, is opened. When opening the valve, the internal pressure of the vacuum processing vessel under reduced pressure is set higher than the pressure of another pressure-reduced space to be brought into communication therewith by the opening of the valve.

Vacuum processing methods

An electrophotographic light-receiving member has a conductive support and a photoconductive layer composed of a non-monocrystalline material comprising silicon atoms as a matrix, hydrogen and/or halogen atoms, and an element belonging to Group IIIb of the periodic table. The photoconductive layer has from the surface side toward the conductive support side, a third layer region that absorbs 50-90% of incident image exposure light and a second layer region that absorbs 60-90% of pre-exposure light incident on the photoconductive layer. The Group IIIb element is present such that its content decreases from the conductive support side to the surface side. In three embodiments the photoconductive layer has, respectively: 10-30 at. % H; 10-20 at. % H and 25-40 at % H; an optical band gap of 1.75-1.85 eV, 1.65-1.75 eV and 1.80-1.90 eV and a characteristic energy of each of 50-55 meV.

Electrophotographic light-receiving member

An object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum processing apparatus and a vacuum processing method capable of effectively preventing film peeling generated in a reaction vessel to provide a deposited film of excellent quality with reduced spherical projections. The present invention provides a vacuum processing apparatus or method utilizing a vessel, means for supplying a gas into the vessel and means for supplying an electric power and in which the gas is decomposed by the electric power to generate a discharge, wherein the surface of a member confronted with the discharge satisfies the conditions of (1) the ten-point mean roughness Rz with respect to a reference length of 2.5 mm according to the JIS standard being in a range of not smaller than 5 &mgr;m and not larger than 200 &mgr;m, and (2) the mean spacing S of adjacent local peaks according to the JIS standard being in a range of not smaller than 5 &mgr;m and not larger than 100 &mgr;m.

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Daisuke Tazawa