Abstract
Efficient, fast, and robust scintillators for ionizing radiation detection are crucial in various fields, including medical diagnostics, defense, and particle physics. However, traditional scintillator technologies face challenges in simultaneously achieving optimal performance and high-speed operation. Herein we introduce colloidal quantum shell heterostructures as X-ray and electron scintillators, combining efficiency, speed, and durability. Quantum shells exhibit light yields up to 70,000 photons MeV−1 at room temperature, enabled by their high multiexciton radiative efficiency thanks to long Auger-Meitner lifetimes (>10 ns). Radioluminescence is fast, with lifetimes of 2.5 ns and sub-100 ps rise times. Additionally, quantum shells do not exhibit afterglow and maintain stable scintillation even under high X-ray doses (>109Gy). Furthermore, we showcase quantum shells for X-ray imaging achieving a spatial resolution as high as 28 line pairs per millimeter. Overall, efficient, fast, and durable scintillation make quantum shells appealing in applications ranging from ultrafast radiation detection to high-resolution imaging.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 4274 |
| Journal | Nature Communications |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2024 |
Funding
We would like to thank Dmitri Talapin, Igor Coropceanu, Josh Portner, Aritrajit Gupta for providing colloidal quantum dot samples for initial radioluminescence tests at the Advanced Photon Source. We also thank Antonino Micelli, Donald Walko, and Xiaoyi Zhang for fruitful discussions on radioluminescence imaging and pulse height spectrum characterizations. Work performed at the Center for Nanoscale Materials and Advanced Photon Source, both U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User Facilities, was supported by the U.S. DOE, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. The work of the BGSU team was supported by the Award DE-SC0016872 funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science. Cathodoluminescence measurements were supported by the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS), which is a US Department of Energy, Office of Science User Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.