DOT-ENLARGEMENT PROCESS FOR PHOTOPOLYMER LITHO MASKS

摘要

An imaged element containing a polymeric relief or stencil image, in which the polymer contains crosslinkable moieties, is subjected to an image enlargement process by contacting the image with a solution containing a swelling agent for the image, and a crosslinking agent. The process is particularly useful in enlarging the half-tone image dot area of photopolymer litho masks wherein the half-tone image areas consist of hardened upper skins which rest on softer undervolumes having a lesser degree of polymerization or hardening.