JPH073595B2 - Method for manufacturing electrophotographic photoreceptor - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method for producing an electrophotographic photoreceptor having a photosensitive layer made of a selenium-tellurium alloy on a conductive substrate.

[Conventional technology]

An electrophotographic photosensitive member having a function-separated multilayer photosensitive layer has a structure as shown in FIG. 2, for example. That is, a charge transport layer 2 formed to a thickness of 50 to 55 μm by vapor deposition of a Se alloy containing 5.5% Te on an aluminum substrate 1, and a vapor deposition of a Se alloy containing 12 to 13% Te thereon. By 4
The charge generation layer 3 having a thickness of ˜5 μm is laminated. As shown in FIG. 3, such a photosensitive member includes two evaporation sources 5, each having a heater 7 under a aluminum tube 1 mounted on a rotating support shaft in a vacuum chamber 4. Manufactured using a 6-position machine. The evaporation source 5 contains 5.5% Te-Se alloy and the evaporation source 6 contains 12 to 13% Te.
Each containing —Se alloy, the charge transport layer 2 is first vaporized by heating the evaporation source 5, and then the charge generation layer 3 is sequentially vaporized by heating the evaporation source 6.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, when vapor deposition is performed by such a method, the fractional distillation of selenium as the first component and tellurium as the second component is not sufficient,
Compared to the target Te concentration distribution shown in the figure, the actual Te concentration distribution is as shown in Fig. 5. Moreover, since the state of the concentration distribution is not constant, the characteristics vary and the fractionation becomes particularly violent. When the concentration distribution has a peak on the charge transport layer 2 side of the charge generation layer 3 as shown in FIG. 6, the fatigue characteristics are poor and the residual potential rises significantly during repeated copying, which is fatal to the photoreceptor characteristics. give.

The object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, suppress the fractional distillation of selenium and tellurium during the vapor deposition of selenium-tellurium alloy material, there is no variation in characteristics due to fractional distillation, electrophotography with improved fatigue characteristics It is to provide a method of manufacturing a photoconductor for use.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention is based on the recognition that fractional distillation occurs when an amorphous alloy is used as a vapor deposition material and does not occur when a crystalline alloy is used. A photosensitive layer shall be deposited on top.

[Action]

In the crystalline material, since the bonding state of Se atoms and Te atoms is uniform inside the material, the Se source is always heated by heating the evaporation source.
And Te evaporate at a constant rate. Therefore, the abnormal concentration distribution as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 does not occur.

〔Example〕

In order to manufacture the photoreceptor having the structure shown in FIG. 2, 5.5% Te-Se alloy and 12 to 13% Te contained in the evaporation sources 5 and 6 of FIG.
-Se alloy For the alloy, use a material that has been crystallized by heat treatment that is left in the environment of 30 ° C or higher for 1 hour or longer. As a result, the Te concentration distribution was always as shown in FIG. 1, showing a distribution that was almost horizontal so that it could be said that there was no fractional distillation, and the variation in the photoreceptor characteristics was reduced accordingly. In addition, it is possible to prevent abnormal residual potential increase during repeated copying.
As shown in the table in comparison with the photoconductor manufactured by the conventional method, the amount of reduction in charge after repeating 300 cycles was small, and the variation was also small.

As the vapor deposition material used according to the present invention, a material that is crystallized during solidification by gradually cooling after melt alloying may be used. Further, a material in a sub-crystalline state is also effective, not a completely crystallized material.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, fractional distillation is prevented and uniform concentration distribution of tellurium is achieved by vacuum vapor deposition using a selenium-tellurium alloy crystallized by heat treatment of an amorphous alloy as a vapor deposition material. Therefore, the photosensitivity abnormality of the photoconductor due to the variation of the density distribution is eliminated. Further, it is possible to easily control the density, reduce variations in the characteristics of the photoconductor, prevent abnormalities in residual potential increase, reduce the amount of charge decrease during repeated copying, and reduce the decrease in image density.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a Te concentration distribution diagram of a photoconductor according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the structure of the photoconductor of FIG. 1, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a vacuum vapor deposition apparatus used in one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a target concentration distribution diagram of the photoconductor of FIG. 1, and FIG.
FIG. 6 and FIG. 6 are Te concentration distribution diagrams of the photoconductor according to the conventional method. 1: Al substrate, 2: charge transport layer, 3: charge generation layer.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A method for producing a photoconductor for electrophotography, characterized in that a crystalline selenium-tellurium alloy is contained in an evaporation source and heated to deposit a photoconductor layer on a conductive substrate. 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the crystalline selenium-tellurium alloy is a material obtained by crystallizing an amorphous alloy by heat treatment. Method. 3. The electrophotographic photoreceptor according to claim 1, wherein the crystalline selenium-tellurium alloy is a material which is crystallized during solidification by slow cooling after melt alloying. Production method.