Fundamental mechanisms of exposure by near-infrared (IR) laser pulses, of multilayer laser photothermal imaging media used as offset lithographic printing plates in computer-to-press or computer-to-plate applications, are investigated with time-resolved three-dimensional optical microscopy, with imaging pulses in the 1-ns to 10-μs range. Different behavior of different layers was observed depending on the pulse duration and pulse energy.
Serguei G. Koulikov, Dana D. Dlott, "Time-Resolved Three-Dimensional Microscopy of Laser Photothermal Imaging Processes" in Proc. IS&T Int'l Conf. on Digital Printing Technologies (NIP14), 1998, pp 172 - 175, https://doi.org/10.2352/ISSN.2169-4451.1998.14.1.art00042_1