Abstract
Scintillators, which are capable of converting ionizing radiation into visible photons, are an integral part of medical, security, and commercial diagnostics technologies such as X-ray imaging, nuclear cameras, and computed tomography. Conventional scintillator fabrication typically involves high-temperature sintering, generating agglomerated powders or large bulk crystals, which pose major challenge for device integration and processability. On the other hand, colloidal quantum dot scintillators cannot be cast into compact solid films with the necessary thickness required for most X-ray applications. Here, we report the room-temperature synthesis of a colloidal scintillator comprising CsPbBr3 nanosheets of large concentration (up to 150 mg/mL). The CsPbBr3 colloid exhibits a higher light yield (~21000 photons/MeV) than the commercially available Ce:LuAG single-crystal scintillator (~18000 photons/MeV). Scintillators based on these nanosheets display both strong radioluminescence and long-term stability under X-ray illumination. Importantly, the colloidal scintillator can be readily cast into a uniform crack-free large area film (8.5×8.5 cm2 in area) with the requisite thickness for high-resolution X-ray imaging applications. We showcase prototype applications of these high-quality scintillating films as X-ray imaging screens for a cellphone panel and a standard central processing unit (CPU) chip. Our radiography prototype combines large-area processability with high resolution and a strong penetration ability to sheath materials, such as resin and silicon. We reveal an energy transfer process inside those stacked nanosheet solids that is responsible for their superb scintillation performance. Our findings demonstrate a large-area solution-processed scintillator of stable and efficient radioluminescence, paving the way for low-cost radiography and X-ray imaging devices.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 2520-2525 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | ACS Nano |
Volume | 13 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 5 2019 |
Bibliographical note
KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01Acknowledgements: This work was supported by both University of Jinan and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Y. Z. has been supported by both National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant # 21805111) and Taishan Scholar Fund. A. V. M. has been supported by the US NSF-CAREER grant #1350800. He gratefully acknowledges travel support from CRDF Global at early stages of the work.