The invention pertains to a photosensitive element, particularly a photopolymerizable printing form precursor; a method of preparing the photosensitive element to form a printing form for use in relief printing; and, a process of making the photosensitive element. The printing form precursor includes a layer of a photosensitive composition, a digital layer that is adjacent to a side of the photosensitive layer, and a cell pattern layer that is disposed between the photosensitive layer and the digital layer. The cell pattern layer includes a plurality of features, and is composed of an ink that is opaque to actinic radiation and transparent to infrared radiation. Since the cell pattern layer is integral with the printing form precursor, digital imaging can occur rapidly with relatively low resolution optics to form a mask without needing to also form a microcell pattern of the digital layer.

A photosensitive resin structure for a printing plate, containing: a support (A); a photosensitive resin composition layer (B) comprising a thermoplastic elastomer (B-1) comprising a monovinyl-substituted aromatic hydrocarbon and a conjugated diene, an ethylenically unsaturated compound (B-2), and a photopolymerization initiator (B-3); and a non-infrared ray-shielding layer (C) ablatable with an infrared ray, wherein the non-infrared ray-shielding layer (C) comprises a polymer (C-2) having a carboxylate group and an ester bond group in a molecule thereof and an infrared ray absorber (C-3), and a proportion of an ester bond group such that carbon bonded to the ester bond group and carbon bonded to the carboxylate group are adjacent to each other in all the ester bond groups contained in the polymer (C-2) is 15% or more.

Provided is a material composition and method that includes forming a patterned resist layer on a substrate. The patterned resist layer has a first pattern width, and the patterned resist layer has a first pattern profile having a first proportion of active sites. In some examples, the patterned resist layer is coated with a treatment material. In some embodiments, the treatment material bonds to surfaces of the patterned resist layer to provide a treated patterned resist layer having a second pattern profile with a second proportion of active sites greater than the first proportion of active sites. By way of example, and as part of the coating the patterned resist layer with the treatment material, a first pattern shrinkage process may be performed, where the treated patterned resist layer has a second pattern width less than a first pattern width.

Method for producing flexographic printing plates from a photopolymerizable flexographic printing plate with a dimensionally stable support, photopolymerizable, relief-forming layer(s), and a digitally imagable layer. The method comprises (a) producing a mask by imaging the digitally imagable layer, (b) exposing the flexographic printing plate with a plurality of UV-LEDs on a UV-LED strip through the mask with actinic light, and photopolymerizing the image regions of the layer, and (c) developing the photopolymerized layer. In the UV-LED strip or in a separate strip, at least one ultrasonic sensor is arranged for determining the thickness of the flexographic printing plate for exposure. Depending on the measured thickness of the flexographic printing plate, the exposing of the flexographic printing plate is controlled in respect of: (i) number of exposure steps, exposure intensity, energy input per exposure step, duration of the individual exposure steps, and/or overall duration of exposure.

A resist underlayer film composition for use in a multilayer resist method, containing one or more compounds shown by formula (1), and an organic solvent,
WX).sub.n(1)
W represents an n-valent organic group having 2 to 50 carbon atoms. X represents a monovalent organic group shown by formula (1X). n represents an integer of 1 to 10, ##STR00001##
The dotted line represents a bonding arm. R.sup.01 represents an acryloyl or methacryloyl group. Y represents a single bond or a carbonyl group. Z represents a monovalent organic group having 1 to 30 carbon atoms. A resist underlayer film composition can be cured by high energy beam irradiation and form a resist underlayer film having excellent filling and planarizing properties and appropriate etching resistance and optical characteristics in a fine patterning process by a multilayer resist method in the semiconductor apparatus manufacturing process.

A photocurable relief image printing blank comprising: (a) a support layer; (b) one or more photocurable layers disposed on the support layer, wherein the one or more photocurable layers comprise: i) a binder; ii) one or more monomers; iii) an alpha-aminoketone photoinitiator; and optionally, iv) an additive selected from the group consisting of phosphites, phosphines, thioether amine compounds, and combinations of one or more of the foregoing; (c) a laser ablatable masking layer disposed on the one or more photocurable layers, the laser ablatable masking layer comprising a radiation opaque material; and (d) optionally, a removable coversheet. Upon exposure and development, the resulting relief image printing element does not degrade if left under ambient lights for an extended period of time.

The present invention aims to provide a CTP flexographic printing original plate having such high performances that, even under a severe low-temperature condition of 10 C. or lower, no crack is generated in a heat-sensitive mask layer and further that, even when the heat-sensitive mask layer is formed as a thin film, no unevenness is generated in an optical density in transmission. A photosensitive CTP flexographic printing original plate, characterized in that, it comprise at least a support, a photosensitive resin layer and a heat-sensitive mask layer which are sequentially layered, that the heat-sensitive mask layer contains a methoxymethylated polys side resin (A) and a water-soluble polyamide resin (B) containing a basic nitrogen atom in a molecule, and that a glass transition point of the polyimide resin (A) is 0 C. to 30 C.

Methods and corresponding apparatus operable to cause an interaction between a drive radiation beam and a medium for generation of emitted radiation by high harmonic generation, the arrangement comprising: an interaction region positioned at an interaction plane and configured to receive the medium; a beam block positioned upstream of the interaction plane at a beam block plane and configured to partially block the drive radiation beam; a beam shaper positioned upstream of the beam block plane at an object plane and configured to control a spatial distribution of the drive radiation beam; and at least one lens positioned upstream of the interaction plane and downstream of the beam block plane, wherein the lens being positioned such that an image of the spatial distribution of the drive radiation beam is formed at the interaction plane.

This disclosure relates to dielectric film forming composition containing at least one fully imidized polyimide polymer; at least one inorganic filler; at least one metal-containing (meth)acrylate compound; and at least one catalyst. The dielectric film formed by such a composition can have a relatively low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and a relatively high optical transparency.

The invention relates to a radiation-curable mixture for generating relief structures, comprising a) at least one functionalized, part-hydrolyzed polyvinyl acetate comprising (i) vinyl alcohol units, (ii) vinyl acetate units, and (iii) vinyl acrylate units, where the vinyl acrylate units, which can be substituted, have the general structure

##STR00001## where R is hydrogen or a linear or branched aliphatic or heteroaliphatic radical having 1 to 12 carbon atoms, or a cycloaliphatic, heterocyclic or aromatic radical having 3 to 12 carbon atoms, as component A, b) at least one initiator as component B, c) at least one ethylenically unsaturated compound different from component A, as component C, d) one or more adjuvants as component D, wherein the amount of vinyl acrylate units (iii) in the functionalized, part-hydrolyzed polyvinyl acetate a), based on all the units (i), (ii), and (iii), is 0.1 to <3 mol %, and component D comprises an additive capable of hydrogen bonding, in an amount of 0.001 to 30 wt %, based on the sum of components A to D.