Kyocera Corporation

Takao Kawamura

Hisashi Higuchi

Yasuo Nishiguchi

Junji Aranami

Naooki Miyamoto

Riichi Sasamori

Hisashi Sakai

Keiji Itsukushima

Kazumasa Ohkawa

Hiroshi Hayashi

Norio Tomiie

Tadashi Ohba

Seigo Ito

Shoji Mayama

Yoichiro Shimono

Keibun Ejima

A multi-layer photoelectric conversion device and technology is disclosed. A first photoelectric converter is separated from a second photoelectric converter by an insulative layer. The photoelectric converters may be of a variety of types, and the insulative layer provides protection to reduce pinhole faults in the multi-layer photoelectric conversion device.

Combined photoelectric conversion device

An electrophotographic apparatus using an a-Si photosensitive drum. The a-Si photosensitive drum has a thickness between 2 and 25 .mu.m. The initial charging potential on the photosensitive drum is set to 450V or below. The center exposure wavelength of an exposure means is set to 700 nm or above. The photosensitive drum includes a photoconductive layer formed as a thin film a-Si layer having a temperature characteristic of 1.0 V/.degree.C. or below. For realizing low charging potential and low electric field development, the thickness d of the photoconductive layer in the photosensitive drum is set to 2 to 24 .mu.m, the relative dielectric constant .epsilon.r is set to 2 or above, and the ratio d/.epsilon.r is set to 9 or below. The photosensitive drum is formed on a conductive support and has a three-layer structure, including a carrier charge blocking layer for blocking the introduction of carrier charge (of the opposite polarity to that of charging) from the conductive support into the photoconductive layer, a photoconductive layer and an insulating or high resistivity layer.

Electrophotographic apparatus having an a-Si photosensitive drum

The present invention relates to an improvement of an electrophotographic sensitive member comprising an amorphous silicon photoconductive layer and an amorphous silicon carbide surface layer formed on said amorphous silicon photoconductive layer. An electrophotographic sensitive member with amorphous silicon as a photoconductive layer has been already practically used and a quantity thereof produced has been on the increase year by year. In this sensitive member, as a rule, in order to increase a surface hardness, a surface layer formed of amorphous silicon carbide has been formed. An electrophotographic sensitive member with such two layers as the fundamental layer structure improved in charge acceptance, residual electric potential, photosensitivy and the like by forming a carrier blocking layer containing boron, oxygen, nitrogen and the like in a quantity within a desired range between a substrate for use in a sensitive member and the amorphous silicon photoconductive layer has been provided. However, the above described sensitive member has shown problems in that a sufficiently high initial electric potential can not be obtained yet and an electric potential decayed until the development from the charging by a corona discharge to give the initial electric potential to the surface, that is a dark decay, is large, so that the sufficiently high surface electric potential can not be obtained in the development. In view of the above described, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electrophotographic sensitive member which is improved in dark decay characteristics and capable of obtaining a high electric potential at a position where the development is conducted.

Layer electrophotographic sensitive member comprising morphous silicon

The present invention relates to improvements in a substrate for producing an electrophotographic sensitive member having a photoconductive layer formed with amorphous silicon. An electrophotographic sensitive member, which is superior in moldability, corrosion resistance, strength, charging electric potential and the like, is formed when an aluminium material, which contains at least one of iron and manganese or a combination of each at 0.30 or less % by weight, is used as a substrate on which a photoconductive layer formed with amorphous silicon is laminated; and/or the surface roughness of said substrate is 0.5 S or less; and/or an aluminium substrate containing magnesium at 0.5 to 10.0% by weight is used.

Electrophotographic sensitive member

Growing community of inventors

Shiga, Japan

Hisashi Higuchi