Enhancement of Photographic Sensitivity by Strong Electric Field Pulse

Abstract

A light pulse and an electric field pulse were synchronously applied to a layer of a chemically unsensitized AgBr emulsion, and photographic sensitivity of the emulsion layer was measured in terms of quantum sensitivity (i.e., number of absorbed photons/grain, which rendered 50% of existing grains developable). Significant increase in sensitivity was particularly observed when the electric field exceeded 1 MV/cm. The quantum sensitivity of the emulsion, which was measured as 440 absorbed photons/grain in the absence of the electric field pulse, reached in the presence of the electric field pulse the sensitivity of 13 absorbed photons/grain, which was comparable to the sensitivity of a sulfur-plus-goldsensitized emulsion.