Licentia Patent-verwaltungs Gmbh

Roland Herkert

Ekkehard Niemann

Wilhelm Senske

Norbert Marschall

Karl-Heinrich Greeb

Guido Blang

A method of providing an amorphous carbon cover layer on an electrophotographic recording material, including the steps of (a) providing a substrate which is an electrophotographic recording material, (b) maintaining the substrate in an atmosphere comprised of argon, hydrogen, and C.sub.2 F.sub.6, and (c) simultaneously with step (b), depositing amorphous fluorinated, hydrogenated carbon on the substrate by direct current magnetron cathode sputtering of glasslike carbon to provide an amorphous carbon cover layer which is transparent, hydrophobic, and has a Vickers hardness of greater than 2000.

Method of producing a cover layer of amorphous carbon on a substrate

A method of producing an electrophotographic recording material, in which an aluminum substrate is coated with a blocking layer. The blocking layer is coated with a layer of amorphous silicon by direct current magnetron cathode sputtering. At least one sputter target containing silicon is used, and a power density of from about 2.0 W/cm.sup.2 to about 30 W/cm.sup.2 is used for the sputtering. The sputtering is performed in an atmosphere containing hydrogen and an inert gas, with a total pressure of inert gas and hydrogen being in a range from about 1.times.10.sup.-3 to about 10.times.10.sup.-3 mbar. This produces a layer of amorphous silicon having a hydrogen content of more than 40 atom %, an inert gas content in a range of 0.01 to 10 atom %, and in which the relative peak heights of the low and high temperature peaks during hydrogen effusion are approximately equal. The amorphous silicon layer is then coated with a cover layer.

Electrophotographic recording material and method of producing it

The present invention relates to an electrophotographic recording material and to a process for manufacturing it. The material comprises an electrically conductive substrate and a photoconductive layer of amorphous silicon and hydrogen applied thereto. The recording material is characterized by only a single photoconductive layer having an oxygen component of about 1 ppm to 1 atom percent. The recording material is produced by means of cathode sputtering.

Growing community of inventors

Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Roland Herkert