Silver halide emulsions

Claim 2

A silver halide emulsion, comprising: a binder; and regular silver halide grains having a cubic, octahedral or tetradecahedral crystal habit dispersed in the binder, said silver halide being pure silver bromide or silver iodobromide containing less than about 10 mol% of silver iodide and the grains having been formed in the presence of a benzimidazole derivative compound by grain formation and water washed after the grain formation, said imidazole derivative being represented by the general formula (I): ##STR5## wherein R 1 represents a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, an alkyl group which may be substituted by a hydroxy group, a cyano group, an alkoxy group, an unsubstituted, mono-substituted or disubstituted amino group, a morpholino group, a free or esterified carboxyl group, a free or esterified sulfo group, or an aryl group, an alkenyl group, an aryl group, or a heterocyclic residue and R 2 to R 5 , which may be the same or different, each represents a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a hydroxy group, an amino group, a nitro group, a cyano group, a carboxy group or a salt thereof, a sulfo group or a salt thereof, an alkyl group, an alkenyl group, an aryl group, or a group shown by R 6 --D-- wherein R 6 represents a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group or an aryl group and D represents --SO 2 --, --COO--, --OCO--, --CONH--, --NHCO--, SO 2 NH-- or --NHSO 2 --.

Claim 3

A silver halide emulsion as claimed in claim 1 wherein the alkyl group for R 1 contains 1 to 8 carbon atoms.

Claim 4

A silver halide emulsion as claimed in claim 1, wherein the aryl group for R 1 contains 6 to 12 carbon atoms.

Claim 5

A silver halide emulsion as claimed in claim 1, wherein the alkenyl group for R 1 contains 3 to 8 carbon atoms.

Claim 6

A silver halide emulsion as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heterocyclic residue for R 1 is a 5- or 6-membered ring containing a nitrogen atom or an oxygen atom.

Claim 7

A silver halide emulsion as claimed in claim 1, wherein R 6 is an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms or an aryl group having 6 to 12 carbon atoms.

Claim 8

A silver halide emulsion as claimed in claim 1, wherein R 1 is a hydrogen atom or a lower alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms and R 2 to R 5 are hydrogen atoms.

Claim 9

A silver halide emulsion as claimed in claim 1, wherein the silver halide grains are formed by adding the benzimidazole derivative of the general formula (I) in an amount of 5×10 -4 mol to 5×10 -1 mol per mol of silver halide.

Claim 10

A silver halide emulsion as claimed in claim 8, wherein the benzimidazole derivative of the general formula (I) is present in an amount of 1×10 -3 to 1×10 -1 mol per mol of silver halide.

Claim 11

A silver halide emulsion as claimed in claim 1, wherein the silver halide grains have a mean grain size in the range of about 0.25 to 2 microns.

Claim 12

A silver halide emulsion as claimed in claim 10, wherein the silver halide grains have a mean grain size of about 0.50 to 2 microns.

Claim 13

A silver halide emulsion as claimed in claim 1, wherein the silver halide emulsion is an internal latent type core/shell emulsion containing core silver halide grains formed in the presence of the benzimidazole derivative of the general formula (I).

Claim 14

A silver halide light-sensitive photographic material, comprising: a support base; and a silver halide emulsion positioned on a surface of the base, wherein the emulsion is comprised of a binder having dispersed therein regular silver halide grains having a cubic, octahedral or tetradecahedral crystal habit, said silver halide being pure silver bromide or silver iodobromide containing less than about 10 mol% of silver iodide and, the grains have been formed in the presence of a benzimidazole derivative compound by grain formation and water washed after the grain formation, said imidazole derivative being represented by the general formula (I): ##STR6## wherein R 1 represents a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, an alkyl group which may be substituted by a hydroxy group, a cyano group, an alkoxy group, an unsubstituted, mono-substituted or disubstituted amino group, a morpholino group, a free or esterified carboxyl group, a free or esterified sulfo group, or an aryl group, an alkenyl group, an aryl group, or a heterocyclic residue and R 2 to R 5 , which may be the same or different, each represents a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a hydroxy group, an amino group, a nitro group, a cyano group, a carboxy group or a salt thereof, a sulfo group or a salt thereof, an alkyl group, an alkenyl group, an aryl group, or a group shown by R 6 --D-- wherein R 6 represents a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group or an aryl group and D represents --SO 2 --, --COO--, --OCO--, --CONH--, --NHCO--, --SO 2 NH-- or --NHSO 2 --.

Claim 15

A silver halide light-sensitive photographic material, comprising: a support base; and a silver halide emulsion positioned on a surface of the base, wherein the emulsion is comprised of a binder having dispersed therein regular silver halide grains having a cubic, octahedral or tetradecahedral crystal habit, said silver halide being pure silver bromide or silver iodobromide containing less than about 10 mol% of silver iodide and, the grains have been formed in the presence of a benzimidazole derivative compound by grain formation and water washed after the grain formation, said imidazole derivative being represented by the general formula (I): ##STR6## wherein R 1 represents a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, an alkyl group which may be substituted by a hydroxy group, a cyano group, an alkoxy group, an unsubstituted, mono-substituted or disubstituted amino group, a morpholino group, a free or esterified carboxyl group, a free or esterified sulfo group, or an aryl group, an alkenyl group, an aryl group, or a heterocyclic residue and R 2 to R 5 , which may be the same or different, each represents a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a hydroxy group, an amino group, a nitro group, a cyano group, a carboxy group or a salt thereof, a sulfo group or a salt thereof, an alkyl group, an alkenyl group, an aryl group, or a group shown by R 6 --D-- wherein R 6 represents a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group or an aryl group and D represents --SO 2 --, --COO--, --OCO--, --CONH--, --NHCO--, --SO 2 NH-- or --NHSO 2 --.