Cerium Doping Double Perovskite Scintillator for Sensitive X‐ray Detection and Imaging

Abstract

Scintillators are widely used for nondestructive testing, nuclear medicine imaging, space exploration and security inspection. Recently, lead halide perovskite scintillation crystals have been brought into focus due to their effective atomic number, fast scintillation decay time, strong luminous efficiency, and tunable band gap. However, their application is limited by lead toxicity. Here we report that Cedoping can increase sensitivity in lead-free double perovskite crystals (Cs 2 NaTbCl 6 ) for X-ray detection and imaging. The introduction of Ce ions as sensitizer can be used to improve the radioluminescence of the crystals. The light output of Ce : Cs 2 NaTbCl 6 crystals is about 52153 ph/MeV, which is 25 % higher than that of un-doped crystal. The X-ray sensitivity is significantly enhanced. Based on our scintillation film X-ray detector the detection limit is 30 nGy • s À 1 , which is about 1/183 of the typical medical imaging dose. Our scintillating film has excellent imaging ability with spatial resolution of up to 10 lp/mm. This research shows that Ce : Cs 2 NaTbCl 6 perovskite crystal scintillators are promising materials for X-ray imaging application.

Compact ultrabroadband light-emitting diodes based on lanthanide-doped lead-free double perovskites

“…The underlying mechanism of the broadband luminescence in the visible (400~800 nm) spectral range proceeded via the recombination of self-trapped excitons (STEs), which mainly arose from the strong Jahn–Teller distortion of the AgCl 6 octahedron triggered by Na + dopants 30 . Since then, several successful examples of DPs doped with Ln 3+ ions (Table S1 ), including La-, Tb-, Er-, and Yb-doped Cs 2 AgInCl 6 , have been reported, primarily for their potential applications in white-light-emitting diodes (wLEDs), NIR-LEDs with specific wavelengths, scintillators, anticounterfeiting techniques, and X-ray detection and imaging 31 – 45 .…”

Synthesis Attempt and Structural Studies of Novel A2CeWO6 Double Perovskites (A2+ = Ba, Ca) in and outside of Ambient Conditions

“…3 − 5 In addition, they could be used for the construction of widely known UV–X-ray sensors with reversible charge-transfer capabilities before doping with some other rare-earth ions such as Pr, Eu, or Yb 3+ . 6 , 7 These dopants could facilitate some properties toward thermometry in cryogenic temperatures. 8 We based our hopes on previously studied scintillating material, BaWO 4 doped with cerium, 9 which served as a fundamental background, an inspiration due to its composition’s similarity and interesting polymorphism.…”

Terbium-doped LiYbF4nanomaterial-based scintillator responding to X-rays with high-resolution imaging applications

“…In recent years, perovskite quantum dots have made rapid progress in scintillation research due to their excellent luminescence properties. [18][19][20][21] However, the poor stability of perovskites and the Pb toxicity limit their development. Generally, fluoride has the characteristics of high stability, high optical transmittance and low phonon energy (300-500 cm −1 ) due to its large electronegativity and small atomic radius, which solve the shortcomings of perovskite well.…”