| abstract |
Novel thermally imageable monochrome product compositions, elements, and processes are disclosed herein. These compositions and elements characteristically have high contrast and fast imaging speeds. The thermally imageable compositions of this invention comprise (a) at least one hexaarylbiimidazole (HABI) compound, (b) at least one leuco dye, (c) at least one acid-generating compound, (d) a polymeric binder, (e) optionally at least one UV stabilizer and/or at least one inhibitor of color formation, and, in certain embodiments, (f) at least one near IR-absorbing dye. These compositions have the propensity for affording, upon thermal imaging, highly colored images having high optical density values. At the same time, background color is low in preferred compositions even after extensive exposure to ambient light. These compositions can be imagewise heated to effect color formation (i.e., generation of an image) or, in case of compositions containing at least one near IR-absorbing dye, can be imagewise exposed to near IR radiation from a laser or other device to effect color formation (i.e., generation of an image). |