THERMAL TRANSFER IMAGING

摘要

A method of thermal transfert imaging, in which a scanning exposure source, such as a laser is used to effect the thermal transfer of colourant from a donor sheet to a receptor for the thermally transferred colourant. In one aspect, a radiation-absorbing material is incorporated in the receptor sheet such that imagewise exposure of the contacted donor and receptor sheets causes heating in the exposed regions of the receptor to effect thermal transfer of the colourant. In another aspect, the donor sheet comprises a layer of a vapor-deposited colourant and either the colourant itself is capable of absorbing the exposing radiation or the donor sheet further comprises a radiation-absorbing material in a separate underlayer to the colourant layer. Novel constructions of thermal transfer donor sheet and receptor sheets are also descrbied.