A photopolymerizable composition comprises at least a polymerizable resin, a photosensitizer, an annihilator, and a photoinitiator. The photosensitizer is formulated to absorb an excitation light signal received in a first range of wavelengths. The annihilator is formulated to emit a light signal in a second range of wavelengths different from the first. During the absorption of light by the photosensitizer in the first range of wavelengths, the annihilator emits a light signal in the second range, a photon energy of the emitted light signal being greater than a photon energy of the light signal received by the photosensitizer. The annihilator is also formulated to implement an energy transfer mechanism to excite the photoinitiator for polymerization of the resin. The excited photoinitiator is formulated to generate at least one polymerizable initiator to cause the polymerization reaction. Related methods, such as three-dimensional printing methods, and materials are also disclosed.

An exemplary optical projection method and system is disclosed, e.g., femtosecond projection two-photon lithography (FP-TPL) based operation, that applies multiple temporally focused light with reduced density of the projected mask to control over-polymerization defects (e.g., without need to tune the photopolymer composition) when certain aspect ratio of the submicron features are desired.

Described herein are an apparatus and a method for direct engraving an elastomeric printing plate by multiple laser beams simultaneously. In one embodiment, an elastomeric printing plate or sleeve is positioned on an imaging drum for direct engraving. The imaging drum is rotatable around its longitudinal axis. Such rotation defines a circumferential direction, also called the transverse direction. The axis of rotation defines an axial direction, also called the longitudinal direction. The printing plate has an body and a surface made of an elastomer (made of polymer or rubber). A drive mechanism provides relative motion between a plurality of laser beams and the plate in both the transverse and longitudinal directions.

A source of actinic radiation for curing printing plates. The source includes a base with a heat sink and has a length greater than its width. One or more circuit boards mounted on the base provide a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) distributed over the length of the base. A transparent or translucent cover together with the base defines an enclosure for the plurality of LEDs. The source provides the radiation at an emission angle greater than the emission angles of a single LED in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the base, in a plane containing the axis of the base or parallel to the axis of the base and perpendicular to the target illumination plane, or a combination thereof. The source may be configured to replace a fluorescent bulb. Methods and systems for bank exposure of printing plates using such sources are also described.

Apparatus and method for directly curing photopolymer printing plates, such as with UV radiation. Printing plates are cured directly by radiation, such as emitted from a high power UV laser beam. No LAMS layer or film bearing the image information is required on top of the polymer plate. The laser beam may be split into several individually-modulated beams by means of an Acousto Optical Deflector. Each individual beam is capable of curing pixels of the image that are to be transferred to the printing plate. Support shoulders for the printing details, formed by the pixels are determined by the caustic of the UV beam propagation.

An exposure optics serves as an equipping and/or retrofitting optics for a device for producing a three-dimensional object by selectively solidifying building material, layer by layer. The exposure optics includes at least a first object-sided lens system having a first focal length f.sub.1 and a second image-sided lens system having a second focal length f.sub.2, which lens systems can be arranged in the beam path of the radiation emitted by the radiation source. The focal plane of the first lens system and the focal plane of the second lens system coincide in a plane between the two lens systems. The focal length f.sub.1 of the first lens system is equal to or greater than the focal length f.sub.2 of the second lens system. The exposure optics is designed and can be arranged such that the electromagnetic radiation is incident substantially perpendicular on the working surface.

A photopolymerizable composition comprises at least a polymerizable resin, a photosensitizer, an annihilator, and a photoinitiator. The photosensitizer is formulated to absorb an excitation light signal received in a first range of wavelengths. The annihilator is formulated to emit a light signal in a second range of wavelengths different from the first. During the absorption of light by the photosensitizer in the first range of wavelengths, the annihilator emits a light signal in the second range, a photon energy of the emitted light signal being greater than a photon energy of the light signal received by the photosensitizer. The annihilator is also formulated to implement an energy transfer mechanism to excite the photoinitiator for polymerization of the resin. The excited photoinitiator is formulated to generate at least one polymerizable initiator to cause the polymerization reaction. Related methods, such as three-dimensional printing methods, and materials are also disclosed.

An object of the present invention is to provide a water-developable flexographic printing plate precursor, a flexographic printing plate, and a photosensitive resin composition, which can maintain good water developability and can suppress adhesion and aggregation of dispersion in the developer in a case of repeated use and disposal of the aqueous developer. The water-developable flexographic printing plate precursor of the present invention is a water-developable flexographic printing plate precursor including a photosensitive layer, in which the photosensitive layer contains water-dispersible particles, and the water-dispersible particles have a core containing a polymer and having a glass transition temperature of 0° C. or lower and have a shell containing a polymer and having a glass transition temperature of 10° C. or higher.

The invention relates to an exposure apparatus (1) for exposing plate-shaped materials (2). The plate-shaped material (2) has a first side (3) and a second side (4) that lies opposite the first side (3). The exposure apparatus (1) comprises a first exposure unit (10) and a conveyor unit (30), wherein the first exposure unit (10) comprises at least one segment with a light source and has an embodiment so as to be rotatable about an axis (14), and the first exposure unit (10) and the conveyor unit (30) are configured in such a way that the first side (3) of the plate-shaped material (2) is supplied for an exposure in a first position (11) of the exposure unit (10) and the second side (4) of the plate-shaped material (2) is supplied for an exposure in a second position (12) of the exposure unit (10). Further aspects of the invention relate to methods for exposing plate-shaped material and a printing plate that was produced from a plate-shaped material according to any one of the methods.

The present invention discloses an apparatus for making direct writing screen plate and a using method thereof. The present invention provides a direct writing screen plate making apparatus and a focal plane control method. A Z-axis controller is used to pre-establish a mapping relation between the focal plane position of the scanning band to be scanned in the next step and the scanning platform position signal. During the next step of scanning, the position of the optical lens is adjusted according to the mapping relation, thus avoiding the problem of inconsistency between the calculated focal plane and the actual focal plane caused by the position deviation between the assembled displacement sensor and the optical lens. The present invention also provides a method for exposing a region of interest and a method for compensating the on-line real-time light uniformity.