Direct laser printing using viscous printer's ink

The results of experiments on direct laser printing using viscous printer's ink with the help of a copper vapour laser (CVL)-based device are presented. The highly reflecting CVL cavity mirror was replaced by a spatial mirror modulator (SMM). Viscous printer's ink was used for printing. A pressure pulse produced at the boundary (on which an intensified and diminished image of the SMM was projected) between the ink and a transparency was used for transferring the ink to the plastic card. It was shown that the use of a CVL allowed a maximum printing speed of ~80 cm² s^-1, a resolution of 625 dpi and up to 15 gradations. The dependence of the emission intensity of the element being projected (pixel) on its diameter is studied. It is shown that an increase in the brightness of this element with decreasing its size is caused by the summation of the laser and amplified radiation.