A photocurable composition for three-dimensional stereolithography which has a lower viscosity and from which a cured product having a high refractive index is obtained, and a three-dimensional object formed by using the composition. The composition is a photocurable composition for three-dimensional stereolithography containing a fluorene monomer, a carbazole monomer, a diluent monomer, and a photopolymerization initiator, the carbazole monomer being contained in an amount of less than 30 wt % with respect to the total amount of the fluorene monomer and the carbazole monomer, and the diluent monomer being contained in an amount of at least 20 wt % with respect to total solids.

A method of manufacturing a patterned stamp (100) for patterning a contoured surface (10) is disclosed. The method comprises applying a layer (115) of a pliable material precursor over a master (50) carrying an inverse pattern (52) to form a desired pattern (112) in said layer; curing the pliable material precursor to form a pliable stamp layer (120) comprising said desired pattern; providing an intermediate stamp structure by adhering a porous pliable support layer (130) to the pliable stamp layer; releasing the intermediate stamp structure from the master; forcing the intermediate stamp structure onto the contoured surface with said pattern of features facing the contoured surface; forming the patterned stamp by filling the porous pliable support layer with a filler material to reduce the pliability of the support layer; and removing the patterned stamp from the contoured surface. A corresponding patterned stamp, imprinting method and imprinted article are also disclosed.

A polymer comprising a first repeating unit including an amino group protected by an alkoxycarbonyl group; a second repeating unit including a nucleophilic group; and a third repeating unit including a crosslinkable group, wherein the first repeating unit, the second repeating unit, and the third repeating unit are different from each other.

A method for manufacturing a cured product pattern of a curable composition includes the steps of, in sequence, depositing a droplet of the curable composition onto a substrate; bringing a mold having an uneven pattern formed in a surface thereof into contact with the curable composition; curing the curable composition; and releasing a cured product of the curable composition from the mold. The mold has a recess having a bottom surface and a stair structure arranged to form an opening surface that becomes wider from the bottom surface toward the surface of the mold. In the contact step, the curable composition comes into contact with the stair portion after a top of the droplet comes into contact with the bottom surface.

A negative-type photosensitive resin composition that has a satisfactory imidization rate and can yield a resin layer with high chemical resistance, even under low-temperature curing conditions of 200° C. or below, the negative-type photosensitive resin composition containing a photopolymerization initiator (B) in a proportion of 0.1 part by mass to 20 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of a polyimide precursor (A), the polyimide precursor (A) being a polyamic acid ester or polyamic acid salt with a specific structure, and the weight-average molecular weight (Mw) of the polyimide precursor (A) being 3,000 or greater and less than 16,000, in terms of polystyrene, according to gel permeation chromatography (GPC).

An object of the present invention is to provide an aqueous developer for a flexographic printing plate capable of maintaining good developability and suppressing aggregation of a dispersion in the developer diluted with water after repeated use, and a manufacturing method of a flexographic printing plate using the same. The aqueous developer for a flexographic printing plate according to the present invention is an aqueous developer for a flexographic printing plate, containing a nonionic surfactant represented by Formula (1), and water.

R.sup.1O—(AO).sub.n—H   (1)

Here, in Formula (1),

R.sup.1 represents a linear aliphatic hydrocarbon group having 9 to 30 carbon atoms,

A represents an alkylene group having 2 to 4 carbon atoms, and

n represents an integer of 7 or more, in which in a case where n is an integer of 2 or more, a plurality of A's may be the same or different from each other.

Disclosed is a method for manufacturing an article made of a polymerized material including the steps of: —providing a vat of polymerizable material, transparent at least in the 400-800 nanometers wavelengths range, —irradiating the polymerizable material with a laser beam according to a predetermined pattern so as to polymerize the polymerizable material in order to form the article, the predetermined pattern being determined based on a three-dimension representation of the article with the positions in three dimensions of a plurality of volume units adapted to form together the article, the laser beam scanning the vat in three dimensions in order to be focused at each position of the volume units present in the predetermined pattern so as to initiate locally the polymerization of the polymerizable material at each of these positions.

Apparatus for exposure of a relief precursor includes a substrate layer and at least one photosensitive layer. The apparatus includes a first light source configured to illuminate a first side of the relief precursor, a movable second light source configured to illuminate a second side of the relief precursor opposite the first side, a movable shield located between the first light source and the second light source and configured to capture at least a portion of the light of the second light source transmitted through the relief precursor, and a moving means configured to move the movable shield simultaneously with the second light source.

In one embodiment, a photocurable composition can comprise a polymerizable material and a photoinitiator, wherein the polymerizable material includes an isocyanate group containing compound of formula (1): R1-R2-N═C═O (1), with R1 including a carbon-carbon double bond, and R2 being substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, aryl, or alkylaryl. An amount of 1 wt % to 10 wt % of the isocyanate group containing compound can cause a strong adhesion strength of the photocurable composition to a silicon substrate after curing, and may allow the omission of an adhesion layer between substrate and the photo-cured layer.

Flexographic printing members amenable to aqueous (or organic) development do not exhibit the deleterious effects on printing performance characteristic of some conventional alternatives. Embodiments of the invention utilize a photopolymerizable layer comprising, consisting of, or consisting essentially of a photopolymerization initiator and a water-dilutable (but not water-soluble) monomer.