JPH0695437A - Electrophotography using conductive toner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify and minimize the structural elements of conventional electrophotographic device and to obtain an electrophotographic method with small energy consumption, long life and high reliability. CONSTITUTION:In this electrophotographic method, an electrophotographic sensitive body has at least a conductive supporting body 1 and a photoconductive layer 2 laminated on the supporting body 1. The photoconductive layer 2 essentially consists of amorphous silicon containing at least one kind of element selected from hydrogen and halogen elements, and if necessary, containing impurity element which controls conductivity. The photoconductive layer 2 has <=10mum film thickness, and a conductive toner is used as a developer. By this electrophotographic method, transfer of a developed image to a recording medium is performed under pressure, or transfer and fixing of the image to the recording medium may be done at one time. A metal blade may be used for cleaning and contact electrification is performed as the electrifying method.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrophotographic method using an electrophotographic photosensitive member provided with a photoconductive layer containing amorphous silicon as a main component and a conductive toner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an amorphous silicon photoconductor has attracted attention as a photoconductor having high sensitivity and long life. However, the relative dielectric constant of the amorphous silicon film is 2 to 4 times larger than that of selenium or the organic photoconductor, and therefore,
Since the electrostatic capacity of the electrophotographic photosensitive member becomes large, it is necessary to increase the charging current by 2 to 3 times in order to obtain the charging potential required for the development of a normal electrostatic latent image. Therefore, there is a problem that reliability is lowered due to an increase in the amount of ozone and an increase in discharge products. Further, although the film thickness has been increased in order to improve the charging property, there is a problem that the film defect increases and the productivity decreases. [Optoelectronic
cs, Vol.4, p273 (1989)]

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrophotographic method which simplifies and downsizes the components of the conventional electrophotographic apparatus, saves energy, has a long life and is highly reliable.

[0004]

The present inventors have accomplished the invention by solving the above-mentioned problems relating to the amorphous silicon photoconductor by combining it with a developing method using a conductive developer. That is, in the electrophotographic method of the present invention, the photoconductive layer in the electrophotographic photosensitive member having at least a conductive support and a photoconductive layer provided in a laminated form contains at least one element selected from hydrogen and halogen elements, Amorphous silicon containing an impurity element for controlling conductivity as necessary is contained as a main component, the film thickness of the photoconductive layer is 10 μm or less, and a conductive toner is used as a developer. In the present invention, the development image may be transferred onto the recording medium by pressure, or the development image may be transferred onto the recording medium and fixed at the same time. A metal blade may be used for cleaning, or contact charging may be performed as a charging method.

The present invention will be described in detail below. 1 to 5 are schematic sectional views of the electrophotographic photosensitive member of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the electrophotographic photosensitive member has a structure in which a photoconductive layer 2 mainly composed of amorphous silicon and a surface layer 3 are laminated on a conductive support 1. In FIG.
A charge injection blocking layer 4 is further provided between the conductive support 1 and the photoconductive layer 2. In FIG. 3, an auxiliary layer 5 is provided between the conductive support 1 and the charge injection blocking layer 4. It is provided. 4 and 5, the surface layer 3 has a laminated structure,
The case where the surface protective layer 9 and the intermediate layers 6 to 8 are formed is shown.

In the present invention, the support may be either a conductive support or an insulating support. Examples of the conductive support include metals such as aluminum, stainless steel, nickel and chromium, and alloys thereof. As the insulating support, polyester, polyethylene, polycarbonate, polystyrene, polyamide,
Polymer film or sheet such as polyimide, glass,
Examples include ceramics. When an insulating support is used, it is necessary to make at least the surface in contact with other layers conductive. In addition to the above metals, the conductive treatment may be performed by forming a metal film of gold, silver, copper or the like by a vapor deposition method, a sputtering method or an ion plating method.

As the conductive support, one made of Cr-Ni-containing steel generally called austenitic stainless steel can be used. Further, a conductive support made of these austenitic stainless steels, on which a conductive layer containing at least molybdenum, chromium, manganese, tungsten or titanium as a main component is formed, is preferably used. These conductive layers can be formed by plating, sputtering or vapor deposition. Alternatively, an aluminum substrate having a conductive layer containing chromium, titanium, tungsten, or molybdenum as its main component can be used. Furthermore, it is also possible to use a conductive support composed of molybdenum, tungsten or titanium.
The support has a thickness of 0.5 to 50 mm, preferably 1 to 20.
The range of mm is used.

The support may have a polished surface. That is, it is possible to use a polishing agent which is smoothed by repeatedly performing it while changing the roughness of the polishing agent from coarse particles to fine particles by buffing, whetstone polishing or the like. The surface roughness of Rs is in the range of 2S to 0.02S, preferably 0.5S to 0.03S. The surface may be a perfect mirror surface or may be cloudy due to thin streaks, but it is necessary that it is smooth as a whole and that no convex portion remains on the boundary surface of the cutting pitch. is there.

In the present invention, the photoconductive layer and the charge injection blocking layer optionally provided are layers mainly composed of amorphous silicon, and include means such as glow discharge decomposition method, sputtering method, ion plating method and vacuum deposition method. Can be formed by. The manufacturing method for the glow discharge decomposition method is as follows. As the raw material gas, a mixed gas of a main raw material gas containing silicon atoms and a raw material gas containing necessary additive elements is used. In this case, a carrier gas such as hydrogen gas or an inert gas may be further mixed with this mixed gas, if necessary. The film forming conditions are a frequency of 5 GHz or less, a reactor internal pressure of 10 ^{−5 to} 10 Torr (0.001 to 1330 Pa),
Discharge power 10-3000 W, and support temperature 30-
It is 300 ° C. The film thickness can be appropriately set by adjusting the discharge time. Silanes, especially SiH ₄ and / or Si ₂ H ₆ are used as the main raw material gas containing silicon atoms.

The photoconductive layer is formed mainly of amorphous silicon containing at least one element selected from hydrogen and halogen elements. Film thickness is 1-10 μm
Is preferred. When the film thickness is 1 μm or less, holding of the conductive toner is insufficient and strength is also insufficient. If it is 10 μm or more, the size of the hemispherical projections on the surface of the photoconductor increases to 10 μm or more, so that the charge injection from the conductive toner and the abrasion by the cleaning blade increase. The photoconductive layer may not be doped with any other element, but it is preferable to contain a Group III element of the periodic table as an impurity element for controlling conductivity. Diborane (B ₂ H ₆ ) is typically used as the source gas containing a Group III element. The amount of addition is determined by the charge polarity of the photoconductor and the required spectral sensitivity, and is used in the range of 0.01 to 100 ppm. Elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen can be further added to the photoconductive layer mainly composed of amorphous silicon for the purpose of improving chargeability, reducing dark decay, and improving sensitivity. Further, this photoconductive layer may contain at least one of Ge and Sn. In the present invention, the photoconductive layer may be composed of two types, a charge generation layer and a charge transport layer.

The charge injection blocking layer for blocking the injection of charges opposite to the charging polarity is made of amorphous silicon to which a group III element or a group V element of the periodic table is added. Whether the group III element or the group V element is used as the additive is determined by the charging polarity of the photoconductor. Upon forming the layer, diborane is typically used as the source gas containing the Group III element, and phosphine (PH ₃ ) or ammonia is typically used as the source gas containing the Group V element. The charge injection blocking layer may further contain at least one element selected from carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and halogen elements in addition to the group III element or the group V element.

Further, an auxiliary layer such as an adhesive layer may be provided between the charge injection blocking layer and the conductive support. For example, at least one of the elements carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, etc.
Amorphous silicon or amorphous carbon containing seeds can be used.

The surface layer is a layer made of amorphous silicon containing at least one element selected from carbon, nitrogen and oxygen, or contains at least one element selected from hydrogen and halogen elements of 50 atomic% or less. It may be a layer made of contained amorphous carbon, or may be formed by stacking them. The surface layer may further contain at least one element selected from Group III elements and Group V elements of the periodic table, and those elements similar to those in the charge injection blocking layer are used. To be Further, the surface layer preferably has a contact angle of 60 ° or more with water droplets of pure water, and particularly 80
It is more preferably at least °. Further, the surface hardness is preferably Vickers hardness of 500 kg / mm ² or more, more preferably 1000 kg / mm ² or more.

When the surface layer is a layer made of amorphous silicon containing at least one element selected from carbon, nitrogen and oxygen, the surface layer is plasma CVD.
Method, vapor deposition method, ion plating method, etc., and the material is SiC _x , SiN _x , SiO
_x or the like is used. Specifically, in the case of the plasma CVD method, silanes, particularly SiH ₄ and / or Si ₂ H ₆ are used as the main raw material gas containing silicon atoms, and carbon, nitrogen or oxygen is contained. As the raw material gas of, for example, the following can be used. That is, as the source gas containing carbon, hydrocarbons such as methane, ethane, propane and acetylene, CF ₄ ,
A halogenated hydrocarbon such as C ₂ F ₄ can be used, and as the source gas containing nitrogen, N ₂ gas, NH ₃ ,
Gases of nitrogen hydride compounds such as N ₂ H ₄ and HN ₃ can be used, and further, as the source gas containing oxygen, O 2 can be used.
₂ , N ₂ O, CO, CO _{2 and the} like can be used.

Further, when the surface layer is a layer made of amorphous carbon containing at least one element selected from hydrogen and halogen elements, a large amount of hydrogen or halogen element contained in the layer is chained in the layer. -CH _2-
Bond, —CF ₂ — bond or —CH ₃ bond is increased,
As a result, the hardness of the layer is impaired, so that the amount of hydrogen or halogen elements in the layer must be 50 atomic% or less. Also in this case, the surface layer is formed by plasma CVD.
Although it can be formed by a method, a vapor deposition method, an ion plating method or the like, a plasma CVD method is particularly preferable.

The following may be mentioned as raw materials for forming amorphous carbon. As the carbon raw material comprising mainly methane, ethane, propane, butane, paraffinic hydrocarbon represented by general formula C _n H _{2n + 2} of pentane, ethylene, propylene, butylene, general formula C _n H of pentene Aliphatic hydrocarbons such as olefinic hydrocarbons represented by _2n , acetylene, arylene, butyne and the like, acetylene hydrocarbons represented by general formula C _n H _2n-2 , cyclopropane, cyclobutane, cyclopentane, cyclohexane, cycloheptane Alicyclic hydrocarbons such as cyclobutene, cyclopentene, and cyclohexene; aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene, xylene, naphthalene, and anthracene; and their substitution products. These hydrocarbon compounds may have a branched structure,
Further, it may be a halogen substitution product. For example, halogenated hydrocarbons such as carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, carbon tetrafluoride, trifluoromethane, chlorotrifluoromethane, dichlorodifluoromethane, bromotrifluoromethane, perfluoroethane and perfluoropropane can be used. The carbon raw materials listed above may be gaseous, solid or liquid at room temperature, and when they are solid or liquid, they are vaporized and used.

When the surface layer made of amorphous carbon is formed by the plasma CVD method, one or more gaseous raw materials selected from the above raw materials are introduced into a decompression container,
Glow discharge may be generated. In that case, if necessary, other gaseous substances different from these gaseous raw materials may be used in combination. For example, a carrier gas such as hydrogen, helium, argon or neon can be used together. In addition,
The glow discharge decomposition by the plasma CVD method may employ either direct current or alternating current discharge, and the film forming condition is usually a frequency of 5 GHz or less, preferably 5 to 2
0 MHz, vacuum degree during discharge 0.1 to 5 Torr (13.
3 to 667 Pa), and the support heating temperature is 100 to 300 ° C. The film thickness can be appropriately set by adjusting the discharge time, but is 0.01 to 10 μm, preferably 0.2 to
It is 5 μm.

In the present invention, the surface layer may be formed by laminating at least one of the above-mentioned layer made of amorphous silicon and the layer made of amorphous carbon. 4 and 5 show such an example, which has a laminated structure of the surface protective layer 9 and the intermediate layers 6 to 8. When a plurality of intermediate layers are formed as shown in FIG. 5, each intermediate layer preferably has an atomic ratio and a film thickness within the following ranges. That is, the first intermediate layer 6 has an atomic ratio of carbon, nitrogen or oxygen atoms to silicon atoms of 0.1 to 1.0 and a film thickness of 0.01 to 0.1 μm. Also,
The second intermediate layer 7 has an atomic ratio of carbon, nitrogen or oxygen atoms to silicon atoms in the range of 0.1 to 1.0 and a film thickness in the range of 0.05 to 1 μm. The intermediate layer 8 has a carbon, nitrogen, or oxygen atom concentration higher than that in the second intermediate layer 7, has an atomic ratio to silicon atoms in the range of 0.5 to 1.3, and has a film thickness of 0.01 to. 0.
It is preferably in the range of 1 μm.

In the present invention, the conductive toner having a volume resistivity of 10 ¹⁰ Ωcm or less can be used. The conductive toner may be a one-component toner or a capsule type toner. Conductivity is carbon black,
It can be obtained by externally adding a conductive powder such as SnO ₂ InSnO ₂ . These toners can be developed by a magnetic brush developing method. Further, a voltage may be applied between the photoconductor and the developing device.

Next, the electrophotographic method of the present invention will be described. In FIG. 6, the surface of the photosensitive drum 10 having a photoconductive layer mainly composed of amorphous silicon is charged by a charger 11, and then an original image passed through an optical system, an image input device 12 such as a laser or an LED. Of light to form an electrostatic latent image. The formed electrostatic latent image is
The developing device 13 visualizes the toner and converts it into a toner image. In this case, a magnetic brush method can be used for development. The formed toner image is transferred to the paper 15 as a recording medium by the pressure transfer device 14 or the electrostatic transfer device. The toner remaining on the surface of the photoconductor after the transfer is removed by the cleaner mechanism 16 using a blade, and the charge slightly left on the surface of the photoconductor is erased by the discharging light 17. As the blade used in the cleaner mechanism 16, blades made of various metals can be used, but among them, blades made of aluminum, iron, nickel, stainless steel, tungsten, molybdenum, titanium or the like can be preferably used. The transferred toner image is fixed by the fixing device 18. When pressure transfer is performed, the pressure can be increased to transfer and fix at the same time. FIG. 7 shows an electrophotographic apparatus for use in that case, which is designated by reference numerals 10 to 13 and 15 to 1.
7 is the same as in FIG. In FIG. 7, a heating device 19 is arranged inside the photoconductor drum 10, and the fixing roller 20 is pressed to contact the paper 1.
The toner image is transferred onto the sheet 5 and fixed at the same time.

[0021]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to Examples and Comparative Examples. Example 1 An amorphous silicon photoconductor was manufactured as follows by using a 15 mm-thick aluminum cylindrical substrate as a support. The inside of the reactor was sufficiently evacuated, and then a mixed gas of silane and diborane was introduced to perform glow discharge decomposition to form a charge injection blocking layer having a film thickness of 2 μm on the cylindrical substrate. The film forming conditions at that time were as follows. 100% Silane gas flow rate: 180 cm ³ / min 200 ppm Hydrogen diluted diborane gas flow rate: 180 cm ³
/ Min Reactor internal pressure: 1.0 Torr Discharge power: 200 W Discharge time: 30 min Discharge frequency: 13.56 MHz Support temperature: 250 ° C. In addition, the discharge frequency and the support temperature under the film forming conditions of each layer below are the above values. Fixed

After the formation of the charge injection blocking layer, the inside of the reactor was sufficiently evacuated, and a mixed gas of silane, hydrogen and diborane was introduced to decompose by glow discharge. A conductive layer was formed. The film forming conditions at that time were as follows. 100% Silane gas flow rate: 180 cm ³ / min 100% Hydrogen gas flow rate: 162 cm ³ / min 20 ppm Hydrogen diluted diborane gas flow rate: 18 cm ³ / m
in Reactor internal pressure: 1.0 Torr Discharge power: 300 W Discharge time: 50 min

After the formation of the photoconductive layer, the inside of the reactor was sufficiently evacuated, and a mixed gas of silane, hydrogen and ammonia was introduced to decompose by glow discharge, whereby a film having a thickness of 0.15 μm was formed on the photoconductive layer. An intermediate layer of 1 was formed. The film forming conditions at that time were as follows. 100% silane gas flow rate: 20 cm ³ / min 100% hydrogen gas flow rate: 180 cm ³ / min 100% ammonia gas flow rate: 30 cm ³ / min Reactor internal pressure: 0.5 Torr Discharge power: 200 W Discharge time: 5 min

After the formation of the first intermediate layer, the inside of the reactor is sufficiently evacuated, and a mixed gas of silane, hydrogen and ammonia is introduced to decompose by glow discharge, whereby a film thickness of 0 is formed on the first intermediate layer. A second intermediate layer of 0.25 μm was formed. The film forming conditions at that time were as follows. 100% silane gas flow rate: 24 cm ³ / min 100% hydrogen gas flow rate: 180 cm ³ / min 100% ammonia gas flow rate: 36 cm ³ / min Reactor internal pressure: 0.5 Torr Discharge power: 200 W Discharge time: 10 min

After the formation of the second intermediate layer, the inside of the reactor is sufficiently evacuated, and a mixed gas of silane, hydrogen and ammonia is introduced to cause glow discharge decomposition, whereby a film thickness of 0 is formed on the second intermediate layer. A surface protection layer having a thickness of 0.1 μm was formed. The film forming conditions at that time were as follows. 100% silane gas flow rate: 15 cm ³ / min 100% hydrogen gas flow rate: 180 cm ³ / min 100% ammonia gas flow rate: 43 cm ³ / min Reactor internal pressure: 0.5 Torr Discharge power: 200 W Discharge time: 5 min An amorphous silicon photosensitive member was produced in which a charge injection blocking layer, a photoconductive layer, and a SiN _x surface layer consisting of three layers having a total thickness of 0.5 μm were sequentially formed on a support.

An image test was conducted by incorporating this electrophotographic photosensitive member into the electrophotographic apparatus shown in FIG. At that time, a polyurethane resin blade was used for the cleaner device.
Further, magnetic brush development was carried out using a conductive one-component toner having a volume resistivity of 10 ⁵ Ωcm as a developer. The charging potential of the photoconductor is 120 V, and the potential after light exposure is +2.
It was 0V. An image density of 1.5 was obtained by applying a voltage of 100 V to the developing device. The image obtained was clear and no fog was observed.

Example 2 As a support, a Vickers hardness of 800 and a thickness of 100 μm
Hard chrome layer is formed on the surface, and the surface roughness is Rs
A surface protective layer made of hydrogen-containing amorphous carbon and having a Vickers hardness of 2500 is formed on the second intermediate layer by using a cylindrical base made of austenitic stainless steel (SUS403) having a thickness of 4 mm and polished to 0.03 μm. An electrophotographic photosensitive member was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the above was carried out. The conditions for forming the surface protective layer were as follows. 100% C ₂ H ₆ gas flow rate: 50 cm ³ / min Reactor internal pressure: 0.5 Torr Discharge power: 500 W Discharge time: 10 min Discharge frequency: 13.56 MHz Support temperature: 250 ° C. Electrode bias: 200 V

Then, a capsule toner was prepared as follows. (Core material) Lauryl methacrylate polymer 40 parts (LMA; Mw: 1 × 10 ⁵ , manufactured by Sanyo Kasei Co.) Magnetic powder (EPT-100, manufactured by Toda Kogyo Co., Ltd.) 60 parts (Outer shell material) Polyurea resin (polymethylene poly) Interfacial polymer of phenyl polyisocyanate and diethylene triamine) Polymethylene polyphenyl polyisocyanate (manufactured by Dow Chemical Co.) is added to the above core material for emulsion granulation, an aqueous diethylene triamine solution is added, and interfacial polymerization is performed, followed by drying with a spray dryer. To obtain capsule particles. Carbon black (Vulcan XC7
2 made by Cabot Co., Ltd.) and 0.5% by weight of zinc stearate were added and mixed to conduct a conductive treatment.
Thus, a capsule toner having a particle size of 15 μm was prepared.

An image test was conducted using the electrophotographic photoreceptor and the capsule toner described above, using the electrophotographic apparatus shown in FIG. For image formation, charging, exposure and development were carried out by a conventional method, and then transfer fixing was carried out. That is,
The charging potential of the photoconductor was 100V. In addition, a transfer roll made of polyvinyl acetal is used for the cylindrical photoreceptor.
It was pressed at a pressure of 00 kg / cm ² , and a transfer paper was inserted between them to perform transfer and fixing at the same time. The fixability of the obtained image was equivalent to that of heat fixing, no toner remained on the surface of the photoconductor, and the transfer rate was 99.5%. In this image test, no scratches and no black or white spots were found on the surface of the photoconductor even after the production of 1 million images.

Example 3 Using the same support as in Example 2, a negative charge type amorphous silicon photosensitive member comprising the following SiN _x containing charge injection blocking layer, photoconductive layer and SiN _x containing surface layer was prepared. The film thickness of the charge injection blocking layer was 0.2 μm, and the film forming conditions were as follows. 100% silane gas flow rate: 40 cm ³ / min 100% hydrogen gas flow rate: 180 cm ³ / min 100% ammonia gas flow rate: 20 cm ³ / min Reactor internal pressure: 0.5 Torr Discharge power: 200 W Discharge time: 5 min Thickness of photoconductive layer Was 5 μm, and the film forming conditions were as follows. 100% Silane gas flow rate: 180 cm ³ / min 100% Hydrogen gas flow rate: 165 cm ³ / min 10 ppm Hydrogen diluted diborane gas: 15 cm ³ / min Reactor internal pressure: 1 Torr Discharge power: 300 W Discharge time: 50 min The film formation conditions for the surface layer are silane gas the flow rate of ammonia gas respectively 10cm ³ / min and 50cm ³ / min
The conditions were the same as those for the charge injection blocking layer except that
Using this photoreceptor, an image test was conducted using the same electrophotographic apparatus as in Example 2. The charging potential is -150V,
A voltage of -120 V was applied to the developing device to obtain an image having a density of 1.5. The image obtained had no fog and the fixability was similar to that of heat fixing.

Comparative Example An amorphous silicon photoconductor manufactured by the same method as in Example 2 was used except that the film thickness of the photoconductive layer was 20 μm.
An image test was performed in the same manner as in Example 2. As a result, black spots were generated on the image at the portions corresponding to the protrusions of the film. The number increases with running, and the number of sunspots after running 100,000 sheets is
3 for 0.5 mm or more, 10 for 0.2 to 0.5 mm,
30 pieces were 0.2 mm or less.

[0032]

According to the electrophotographic method of the present invention, since the thickness of the photoconductive layer in the electrophotographic photosensitive member is reduced to 10 μm or less, the occurrence of image defects due to film defects can be prevented. Therefore, it is possible to form a copy image with excellent image quality over a very long period of time. Also,
According to the electrophotographic method using the electrophotographic photosensitive member and the conductive toner in the present invention, since low potential development is ensured, it is suitable for downsizing and digitalization of the electrophotographic apparatus, energy saving, low cost and high reliability. Can be applied to the image output device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a schematic sectional view of an electrophotographic photosensitive member of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows another schematic cross-sectional view of the electrophotographic photosensitive member of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows another schematic cross-sectional view of the electrophotographic photosensitive member of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows another schematic cross-sectional view of the electrophotographic photosensitive member of the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows another schematic cross-sectional view of the electrophotographic photosensitive member of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic sectional view of an electrophotographic apparatus for carrying out the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows another schematic sectional view of an electrophotographic apparatus for carrying out the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Conductive support, 2 ... Photoconductive layer, 3 ... Surface layer, 4 ... Charge injection blocking layer, 5 ... Auxiliary layer, 6-8 ... Intermediate layer, 9 ... Surface protective layer, 10 ... Photosensitive drum, 11 ... charger, 12 ... image input device, 13 ... developing device, 14 ... pressure transfer device, 15 ...
Paper, 16 ... Cleaner mechanism, 17 ... Static elimination light, 18 ... Fixing device, 19 ... Heating device, 20 ... Fixing roll.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location G03G 15/24 6830-2H

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A photoconductive layer in an electrophotographic photosensitive member, in which at least a conductive support and a photoconductive layer are provided in a laminated form, contains at least one element selected from hydrogen and halogen elements, and if necessary, conductivity. An electrophotographic method, characterized in that amorphous silicon containing an impurity element for controlling properties is used as a main component, the photoconductive layer has a thickness of 10 μm or less, and a conductive toner is used as a developer. 2. The electrophotographic method according to claim 1, wherein the transfer of the developed image on the electrophotographic photosensitive member to the recording medium is performed by pressure. 3. The electrophotographic method according to claim 1, wherein the development image is transferred onto the recording medium and fixed at the same time. 4. The electrophotographic photosensitive member according to claim 1, wherein an electrophotographic photoreceptor having a charge injection blocking layer for blocking injection of charges opposite to the charging polarity is provided between the conductive support and the photoconductive layer. Electrophotography. 5. The electrophotographic method according to claim 4, wherein the charge injection blocking layer is an electrophotographic photosensitive member made of amorphous silicon to which a group III element or a group V element of the periodic table is added. 6. Amorphous silicon containing at least one element selected from carbon, nitrogen and oxygen or amorphous carbon containing at least one element selected from hydrogen and halogen elements at 50 atomic% or less on the photoconductive layer. The electrophotographic method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein an electrophotographic photosensitive member provided with a surface layer is formed. 7. The electrophotographic method according to claim 1, wherein a metal blade is used for cleaning. 8. The contact charging is performed as a charging method.
The electrophotographic method according to any one of 1 to 7.