Thermal transfer donor element comprising a colourless sublimable compound and image forming process

摘要

The invention relates to a method of increasing the sensitivity of laser induced thermal imaging by using certain sublimable compounds. The invention is useful in the field of thermal transfer imaging for the production of various graphic arts media. One embodiment of the invention is a thermal transfer donor element comprising a substrate having coated on at least a portion thereof, in one or more layers: (a) a sublimable compound; (b) a radiation absorber; and (c) a thermal mass transfer material; wherein the sublimable compound is free of acetylenic groups. Another embodiment of the present invention is a thermal transfer system comprising the thermal transfer donor element listed above and an image-receiving element. This can be used in a process for forming an image comprising the steps of: (a) bringing the thermal transfer donor element into contact with an image-receiving element; and (b) imagewise exposing the construction of (a), thereby transferring the thermal mass transfer material of the thermal transfer donor element to the image-receiving element.