During the past decade the fields of photopolymerisation and photo- imaging science have grown from subjects of esoteric research specialities into major industrial developments and are now fields of central importance in polymer science and technology. Free-radical addition polymerisation, cationic polymerisation, photolithography, photocrosslinking, photografting, photochromic imaging and topo- chemical polymerisation all continue to gain important new grounds in industry. Much new research continues in these areas and today has given rise to many new applications in such fields as microelectronics, e.g. in resists, barrier coatings, encapsulants and printing board technologies. Without the use of photo resists it would not be possible to develop modern electronic and computer industries. This book is meant to be a comprehensive and up-to-date text in the science and technology of all the above subjects with each chapter being written by a very prominent specialist or specialists working in the particular area concerned. The chapters have a strong interna- tional flavour and cover a very wide range of topics.The first, by Dr Hageman at Akzo Chemie in the Netherlands, deals with the most fundamental subject of them all, namely photo initiated addition free-radical polymerisation. Here emphasis is on the mechanistic behaviour of both established and new carbonyl-containing systems.
