US4885220A — Amorphous silicon carbide electroreceptors

Claim 1

Independent Claim 44 words

An electroreceptor comprised of a supporting substrate and hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide with from about 10 to about 60 atomic percent of carbon, from about 10 to about 60 atomic percent of hydrogen, and from about 10 to about 80 atomic percent of silicon.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 44 words

An electroreceptor comprised of a supporting substrate and hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide with from about 10 to about 60 atomic percent of carbon, from about 10 to about 60 atomic percent of hydrogen, and from about 10 to about 80 atomic percent of silicon.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 26 words

An electroreceptor in accordance with claim 1 wherein the optical bandgap of the hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide is from about 2.0 to about 3.5 electron volts.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 50 words

An electroreceptor in accordance with claim 1 wherein the hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide possesses a dark conductivity of less than or equal to 10 -12 Ω -1 -cm -1 , and negligible photoconductivity of less than or equal to 10 -9 Ω -1 -cm -1 at 10 ergs/cm 2 .

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 24 words

An electroreceptor in accordance with claim 1 wherein the dielectric constant of the hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide is less than or equal to 7.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 32 words

An electroreceptor in accordance with claim 1 that sustains electrical fields of up to 100 volts per micron with no observable breakdown or loss of electrical potential when exposed to ambient light.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 34 words

An electroreceptor in accordance with claim 1 wherein the voltage decay on the surface of said electroreceptor is less than or equal to 5V/sec at electrical fields of greater than or equal to 50V/μm.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 25 words

An electroreceptor in accordance with claim 1 wherein the hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide is of a thickness of from about 1 to about 10 microns.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 47 words

An electroreceptor in accordance with claim 1 wherein the layer of hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide is prepared by the plasma dissociation of a mixture of a silicon containing gas and a carbon containing gas, or the plasma dissociation of gas molecules containing both silicon and carbon atoms.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 13 words

An electroreceptor in accordance with claim 1 wherein the supporting substrate is aluminum.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 19 words

An electroreceptor in accordance with claim 9 wherein the supporting substrate is between about 0.1 and 1.0 inch thick.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 29 words

An electroreceptor in accordance with claim 1 with a dark conductivity of from about 10 -12 Ω -1 -cm -1 to about 10 -20 Ω -1 -cm -1 .

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 28 words

An electroreceptor in accordance with claim 1 with a photoconductivity of from about 10 -9 Ω -1 -cm -1 to about 10 -20 Ω -1 -cm -1 .

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 33 words

An electroreceptor in accordance with claim 1 wherein the amorphous hydrogenated silicon carbide contains about 25 atomic percent of carbon, about 35 atomic percent of silicon, and about 40 atomic percent of hydrogen.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 41 words

An electroreceptor comprised of a hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide with from about 10 to about 60 atomic percent of carbon, from about 10 to about 60 atomic percent of hydrogen, and from about 10 to about 80 atomic percent of silicon.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 41 words

An electroreceptor comprised of a hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide with from about 10 to about 60 atomic percent of carbon, from about 10 to about 60 atomic percent of hydrogen, and from about 10 to about 80 atomic percent of silicon.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 19 words

An electroreceptor in accordance with claim 14 wherein the hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide is deposited on a supporting substrate.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 89 words

An electroreceptor comprised of a first layer of hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide with from about 10 to about 60 atomic percent of carbon, from about 10 to about 60 atomic percent of hydrogen, and from about 10 to about 80 atomic percent of silicon; and a second layer in contact therewith comprised of hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide with from about 10 to about 40 atomic percent of carbon, from about 40 to about 80 atomic percent of silicon, and from about 10 to about 30 atomic percent of hydrogen.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 89 words

An electroreceptor comprised of a first layer of hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide with from about 10 to about 60 atomic percent of carbon, from about 10 to about 60 atomic percent of hydrogen, and from about 10 to about 80 atomic percent of silicon; and a second layer in contact therewith comprised of hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide with from about 10 to about 40 atomic percent of carbon, from about 40 to about 80 atomic percent of silicon, and from about 10 to about 30 atomic percent of hydrogen.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 20 words

An electroreceptor in accordance with claim 16 wherein the hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide layers are deposited on a supporting substrate.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 14 words

An electroreceptor in accordance with claim 17 wherein the substrate is comprised of aluminum.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 33 words

An ionographic process which comprises generating a latent image of the electroreceptor of claim 1; thereafter developing this image; subsequently transferring the image to a suitable substrate; and permanently affixing the image thereto.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 33 words

An ionographic process which comprises generating a latent image on the electroreceptor of claim 14; thereafter developing this image; subsequently transferring the image to a suitable substrate; and permanently affixing the image thereto.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 33 words

An ionographic process which comprises generating a latent image on the electroreceptor of claim 16; thereafter developing this image; subsequently transferring the image to a suitable substrate; and permanently affixing the image thereto.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 45 words

An electroreceptor consisting essentially of a supporting substrate and hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide with from about 10 to about 60 atomic percent of carbon, from about 10 to about 60 atomic percent of hydrogen, and from about 10 to about 80 atomic percent of silicon.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 45 words

An electroreceptor consisting essentially of a supporting substrate and hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide with from about 10 to about 60 atomic percent of carbon, from about 10 to about 60 atomic percent of hydrogen, and from about 10 to about 80 atomic percent of silicon.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 42 words

An electroreceptor consisting essentially of a hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide with from about 10 to about 60 atomic percent of carbon, from about 10 to about 60 atomic percent of hydrogen, and from about 10 to about 80 atomic percent of silicon.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 42 words

An electroreceptor consisting essentially of a hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide with from about 10 to about 60 atomic percent of carbon, from about 10 to about 60 atomic percent of hydrogen, and from about 10 to about 80 atomic percent of silicon.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 30 words

An electroreceptor in accordance with claim 1 wherein the dark conductivity thereof is from about 10 -12 Ω -1 -cm -1 to about 10 -20 Ω -1 -cm -1 .

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 38 words

An electroreceptor in accordance with claim 1 wherein the charge acceptance is from about 50 to about 100 volts/μm and the dark decay of from about 0 to about 5 volts/sec at electric fields of about ≧20 volts/μm.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1992-12-04	1993-06-05	1993-12-05	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1996-12-04	1997-06-05	1997-12-05	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2000-12-04	2001-06-05	2001-12-05	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Amorphous silicon carbide electroreceptors

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